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Some Mammals Used Highly Complex Teeth to Compete With Dinosaurs

By Guest PostMarch 19, 2012Nature, Science3 d images, alistair evans, angiosperms, australia, back teeth, bumps, computed tomography, ct, cusps, dinosaur extinction, dinosaurs, event, extinction, finland, food, fossil, gregory p wilson, ian corfe, insect pollinators, jukka jernvall, mammal, mesozoic era, mikael fortelius, monash university, mountain range, multituberculates, Nature, paleontologist, peter smits, rodent, scanning, tooth surface, topography, tubercles, university of helsinki, university of washington, vince stricherz

Conventional wisdom holds that during the Mesozoic Era, mammals were small creatures that held on at life’s edges. But at least one mammal group, rodent-like creatures called multituberculates, actually flourished during the last 20 million years of the dinosaurs’ reign and survived their extinction 66 million years ago.

New research led by a University of Washington paleontologist suggests that the multituberculates did so well in part because they developed numerous tubercles (bumps, or cusps) on their back teeth that allowed them to feed largely on angiosperms, flowering plants that were just becoming commonplace. (more…)

Dangerous Chemicals in Food Wrappers Likely Migrating to Humans

By Guest PostNovember 14, 2010Culture, Healthblood, chemical contamination, chemicals, fast food, food, human blood, human chemical exposure, humans, jessica d’eon, junk food wrappers, metabolism, microwave popcorn bags, pap concentrations, paps, perfluorinated carboxylic acids, perfluorooctanoic acid, pfcas, pfoa, polyfluoroalkyl phosphate esters, scott mabury

Image credit: University of Toronto

U of T scientists have found that chemicals used to line junk food wrappers and microwave popcorn bags are migrating into food and being ingested by people where they are contributing to chemical contamination observed in blood.

Perfluorinated carboxylic acids or PFCAs are the breakdown products of chemicals used to make non-stick and water- and stain-repellant products ranging from kitchen pans to clothing to food packaging. PFCAs, the best known of which is perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), are found in humans all around the world.

“We suspected that a major source of human PFCA exposure may be the consumption and metabolism of polyfluoroalkyl phosphate esters or PAPs,” said Jessica D’eon, a graduate student in the Department of Chemistry. “PAPs are applied as greaseproofing agents to paper food contact packaging such as fast food wrappers and microwave popcorn bags.” (more…)

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Some Mammals Used Highly Complex Teeth to Compete With Dinosaurs

Dangerous Chemicals in Food Wrappers Likely Migrating to Humans