Blue whale fossil provides evidence that baleens grew large earlier than thought

MAY 1, 2019 REPORT

by Bob Yirka , Phys.org

New whale fossils from Italy and Peru imply an early origin of modern mysticete gigantism. (a) Map of Italy showing the fossil locality of Balaenoptera cf. musculus. (b) Cranium of Balaenoptera cf. musculus, in dorsal view. (c) Right tympanic bulla of B. musculus (National Museum of Nature and Science specimen M25900), in dorsal view (i), and B. cf. musculus in dorsal (ii) and ventrolateral (iii) view. (d) Support surface for the mode shift model from Slater et al.; dark and light grey bars denote the range of the 2- and 3-unit support regions, respectively. (e) Support surface for the mode shift model with B. musculus truncated at 1.37 Ma, but with the Peruvian fossils excluded. (f) Mysticete body length plotted against time, and compared with the 80 (white), 90 (grey) and 95% (black) quantiles of 1000 BM simulations on the baleen whale phylogeny of [4]; grey circles are chaeomysticetes, triangles toothed mysticetes, and red circles the new fossils from Italy and Peru. Note that the BM simulations were carried out on a phylogeny that did not include the specimens described here; their placement relative to the quantiles is thus merely indicative. (d–f) Modified from Slater et al. Photo in (b) by Akhet s.r.l. (akhet.it). Drawing of B. musculus by Carl Buell. Credit: Biology Letters (2019). DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2019.0175

A team of researchers with members from Italy, Australia, and Belgium has found evidence that suggests baleen whales grew large earlier than has been thought. In their paper published in the journal Biology Letters, the group describes their study of a whale fossil that was found in 2006 and how old it was.

Baleen whales are very large creatures—the biggest of them, the blue whale, is not just the largest animal alive today—it is the largest animal in evolutionary history. Prior research has shown that baleenwhales are able to grow so large because they live in the ocean, which allows whales to counter the impact of gravity with buoyancy—and because the evolution of the baleen allowed them to catch and consume a huge amount of food in short order.

For many years, there has been some debate among ocean scientists regarding why the whales grew so big and when it happened. In recent years, a general consensus has maintained that they likely grew large rapidly approximately 300,000 years ago—though researchers have suggested that it could have been as far back as 4.5 million years ago. Researchers believe that at some point in time, the climate changed in a way that very strongly impacted krill, the main baleen food source. In order to survive, the whales would have had to eat huge amounts of the tiny sea creatures before swimming a very long way to find another meal. But now, this theory is being challenged by the team studying a blue whale fossil found in Italy.

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Fossil of ancient four-legged whale with hooves discovered

Giant 42.6m-year-old fossil was found along coast of Peru and suggests creature could walk on land

Hannah Devlin Science correspondent

Thu 4 Apr 2019 16.00 BSTLast modified on Fri 5 Apr 2019 10.33 BST

An ancient four-legged whale with hooves has been discovered, providing new insights into how the ancestors of the Earth’s largest mammals made the transition from land to sea.

The giant 42.6m-year-old fossil, discovered in marine sediments along the coast of Peru, appears to have been adapted for a semi-aquatic lifestyle. Its hoofed feet and the shape of its legs suggest it would have been capable of bearing the weight of its bulky four metre long body and walking on land. Other anatomical features, including a powerful tail and webbed feet similar to an otter suggest it was also a strong swimmer.

“Whales are this iconic example of evolution,” said Travis Park, an ancient whale expert at the Natural History Museum in London, who was not involved in the latest study. “They went from small hoofed mammals to the blue whale we have today. It’s so interesting to see how they conquered the oceans.”

Older and smaller whale ancestors with four limbs had been discovered previously, but the latest specimen fills in a crucial gap in knowledge about how the creatures evolved and spread throughout the world’s oceans.

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43,380 acres declared under community protection in Peru

The Ministry of Environment of Peru has declared 43,480 acres (17,600 hectares) of cloud forest and páramo in the Tropical Andes as a protected area, under the care of the local community.

This official recognition as a private conservation area (ACP: Area de Conservación Privada) confers legal protection to these habitats to safeguard them from logging, slash and burn agriculture and illegal mining.

World Land Trust (WLT) has been supporting partner Naturaleza y Cultura Peru (NCP) to build a network of seven ACPs in Northern Peru, which will cover 20 per cent of the country’s cloud forests. The San Miguel de Tabaconas ACP is the third WLT-funded ACP to be declared as part of this project; joining the communities of Chicuate Chinguelas (declared June 2016) and San Juan de Sallique (declared December 2017). The total area of this unique montane habitat now under community protection in Peru funded by WLT is now 111,199 acres (45,000 hectares).

Biological Importance
The Tropical Andes between Ecuador and Peru are known for their rich biodiversity. The region is home to threatened birds such as the Red-faced Parrot and Masked Mountain-Tanager; little-known mammals unique to Peru like the Inca Oldfield Mouse; and flagship Andean species including the Spectacled Bear and Mountain Tapir.

Five important rivers start their journey from this montane region of Peru. It is an important area for conservation in terms of ecosystem services (water supply and carbon storage) and economic value (medicinal plants, timber and commercial native fruits) for the local population.

By declaring the ACPs, the Ministry of Environment in Peru and the regional governments of Piura and Cajamarca have recognized the area as a priority for conservation.

Looking to the Future
WLT continues to support NCP in the management of the established ACPs and the recognition of further ACPs in the region. By applying a community conservation model, NCP assists the local communities to lead sustainable livelihoods, manage their resources and conserve this Andean ecosystem.

Richard Cuthbert, WLT’s Director of Conservation, says, “It is important that the management of a habitat lies in the hands of the resident local communities who live and use these areas. We will keep supporting the hard work of our in-country partner, Naturaleza y Cultura Peru, to assist local communities to sustainably manage their resources and in developing further protected areas within the Tropical Andes.”

5 March 2019

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Scientists show molecular basis for ants acting as 'bodyguards' for plants

Date: September 18, 2017

Source: University of Toronto

Summary:

Though you might not think of ants as formidable bodyguards, some do an impressive job protecting plants from enemies. Examing the relationship between the Amazon rainforest plant Cordia nodosa in Peru and the ant species Allomerus octoarticulatus, scientists found the degree to which the ants express two genes significantly impacts the amount of protection they provide to their hosts.

     

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Three species of tiny frogs discovered in Peruvian Andes

Date:  July 27, 2017

Source:  University of Michigan

Summary:  Three more frog species have been discovered in the Peruvian Andes, raising to five the total number of new frog species the group has found in a remote protected forest since 2012.

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Peruvian monkey avoids stomach trouble by adding mud to its diet

26 June 2017

By Adrian Barnett

Are there merits to munching mud? Some monkeys seem to go out of their way to add it to their standard diet of leaves, fruits and insects. In Amazonian Peru, at least, one primate species seems to use mud medicinally, possibly to prevent stomach upsets before they even begin.

Why some monkeys eat mud has been much debated, with the main options being to kill parasites, as a mineral supplement or to cure stomach upsets.

“Many previous reports involved just a few sightings, or come from accidental encounters,” explains Dara Adams at the Ohio State University in Columbus, who led the study. “We were really focused on answering this question, and that seems to have made the difference.”

The team studied Rylands’ bald-faced saki monkey (Pithecia rylandsi), a rainforest canopy specialist. With thick grey fur, it has a similar shaggy appearance and size to a Maine Coon cat. The sakis’ treetop lifestyle means they did not get their mud from the ground, but from the nest casings of tree-living termites.

“In 1125 hours, we recorded 76 feeding bouts at 26 termite mounds,” says team member Jennifer Rehg, from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. “They ate mound casing – they weren’t focusing on the termites. They even ate inactive mounds.”

Muddy goodness

But why termite mounds? Enter Mrinalini Watsa from Washington University in St Louis, Missouri, who conducted a detailed analysis of the mud the sakis were eating.

“The important thing is that this isn’t just any mud, it’s termite-processed mud,” she explains. “Compared to topsoil, it has a higher carbon and clay content.”

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Tropical lowland frogs at greater risk from climate warming than high-elevation species, study shows

Date: April 7, 2017
Source: University of Michigan 

A new study of Peruvian frogs living at a wide variety of elevations -- from the Amazon floodplain to high Andes peaks -- lends support to the idea that lowland amphibians are at higher risk from future climate warming.

That's because the lowland creatures already live near the maximum temperatures they can tolerate, while high-elevation amphibians might be more buffered from increased temperatures, according to a study by University of Michigan ecologist Rudolf von May and his colleagues published online April 6 in the journal Ecology and Evolution.

Previous studies have suggested that lowland reptiles and amphibians are especially vulnerable to climate warming. But in most cases, those conclusions were based on computer modeling work that incorporated a limited amount of field data.

"Understanding how species respond to climatic variation is critical for conserving species in future climatic conditions. Yet for most groups of organisms distributed in tropical areas, data about species' critical thermal limits are limited," said von May, a postdoctoral researcher in the U-M Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

"I think the contribution of our study is that it focuses on a group of closely related frog species distributed along a single montane gradient and that it includes empirical data on species' tolerance to heat and cold, as well as air temperatures measured along the same gradient."

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Bizarre Caterpillar That Makes Own Leafy 'Armor' Seen for 1st Time

By Mindy Weisberger, Senior Writer | January 21, 2017 08:10am ET


A caterpillar that was recently discovered in Peru exhibits a behavior previously unknown in caterpillars. It pieces together a tube of leaves and crawls inside; then, it "walks" by grabbing bits of the forest undergrowth with its mouth and pulling itself and its leafy covering forward.

This never-before-seen activity was spotted and documented by Joe Hanson, creator and host of the YouTube science channel "It's OK to Be Smart" presented by PBS Digital Studios, while filming in the Peruvian Amazon with entomologist Aaron Pomerantz and guide Pedro Lima.

When Hanson picked up the caterpillar, it retreated inside the protective tube, "like a knight inside a suit of armor," Hanson said in a video, suggesting that it was using the tube as a type of camouflage and protection against predators. [In Photos: Bizarre Animals That Masquerade as Plants]

Caterpillars are known to employ a range of unusual strategies to protect themselves. Some use a "freeze-and-drop" defense against wasps, deliberately falling off leaves when wasps fly near, to avoid being eaten or parasitized. Others curl up so they resemble tiny piles of bird poop. Certain caterpillars are even known to protect themselves with defensive barfing, regurgitating a foul-smelling liquid that stops predators in their tracks, while others warn away threats with puffs of nicotine.

 

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Peru investigates death of 10,000 Titicaca water frogs

18 October 2016

Peru's environmental agency is investigating the deaths of some 10,000 frogs whose bodies have been found in a river in the south of the country.

A campaign group says pollution in the River Coata is to blame for the deaths. 

It says the government has ignored pleas for the construction of a sewage treatment plant in the area. 

The Titicaca water frog is an endangered species that is found only in the huge freshwater lake shared by Peru and Bolivia and its tributaries.

The Committee Against the Pollution of the Coata River told the AFP news agency that the Peruvian authorities had failed to address a serious pollution problem.

Activists took about 100 dead frogs to the central square in the regional capital, Puno.

"I've had to bring them the dead frogs. The authorities don't realize how we're living," protest leader Maruja Inquilla told AFP.

"They have no idea how major the pollution is. The situation is maddening." 

Peru's National Forestry and Wildlife Service (Sefor) said it was investigating what happened.

"Based on local residents' statements and samples taken in the days after the incident, it is believed that more than 10,000 frogs were affected over about 50km (30 miles)," it said in a statement.

The Titicaca water frog (Telmatobius culeus) has enormous folds of skin, which increase its surface area and help the amphibian absorb more oxygen from the surrounding air. 

As a result of their baggy skin, they are sometimes called Titicaca scrotum frogs. 

The frogs are critically endangered because humans have collected too many to eat, their habitat is being lost and invasive species are taking over what remains of it.

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