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Fossil Reveals Oldest Evidence of Live Birth in Reptiles

By Guest PostJuly 22, 2011Scienceaquatic groups, Beijing, blood supply to the embryos, chinese academy of sciences, early cretaceous period, eggs, embryos of modern lizards, fossil, fossil records, invertebrates, jehol biota, jehol group, lizards, mammals, marine ichthyosaurs, north eastern china, offspring, physiological adaptations, plants, rocks, snakes, squamate reptiles, susan evans, terrestrial reptiles, university college london, yabeinosaurus

*A fossil from north-eastern China has revealed that terrestrial reptiles were giving birth to live young at least as early as 120 million years ago.*

The newly discovered fossil of a pregnant lizard proves that some squamate reptiles (lizards and snakes) were giving birth to live young, rather than laying eggs, in the Early Cretaceous period – much earlier than previously thought. The fossil shows a pregnant female filled with the tiny skeletons of more than 15 baby lizards at a stage of development similar to that of late embryos of modern lizards. The mother lizard, which is 30 centimetres long (excluding her tail), probably died only a few days before giving birth.

The discovery is described in the journal Naturwissenschaften by scientists from UCL (University College London) and the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing. (more…)

You Are What Your Father Ate, New Study Says

By PravdaDecember 25, 2010Healthdisease risk factors, Health, offspring, paternal diet

We are what our father ate before we were born! An international team of researchers has found that a father’s diet while growing up can affect his offspring’s future health. (more…)

The Genetics of Self-Incompatibility

By Guest PostNovember 6, 2010Nature, Scienceantigens, female, fertilization, genes, genetic, immune response, inbreeding, male, offspring, organism, petunia, petunia pistil, petunia pollen, plant, pollen, proteins, rna, rna-destroying enzyme, seiji takayama, sexual organs, t-cell receptors, teh-hui kao

*Petunias show that the mechanisms behind inbreeding prevention are similar to immune response*

About the image: The female part of the petunia flower secretes an enzyme that is designed to deter pollen tube growth, thereby preventing fertilization. However, in the cases that the pollen has come from a genetically different plant, the pollen produces its own protein that combats the pistil’s enzyme. With the enzyme out of the way, the pollen tube can keep growing and fertilization can occur. Image credit: Zina Deretsky, National Science Foundation

Inbreeding is a bad strategy for any organism, producing weak and problematic offspring. So imagine the challenge of inbreeding prevention in a plant where male and female sexual organs grow right next to each other! Such is the genetic conundrum faced by the petunia. (more…)

Tag Archives: offspring

Fossil Reveals Oldest Evidence of Live Birth in Reptiles

You Are What Your Father Ate, New Study Says

The Genetics of Self-Incompatibility