1 )Please write a summary( 5 - 7 sentences) and 2 ) Please write a reflection ( 5 - 7 sentences) in the article below: A
Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2022 10:11 pm
1 )Please write a summary( 5 - 7 sentences)and
2 ) Please write a reflection ( 5 - 7 sentences) in thearticle below:
A tiny, beady-eyed, long-tailed primate with hand-like feet isnow the world’s oldest known fossil primate skeleton. In a study tobe released in the journal Nature this week, aninternational team of researchers describe their discovery of theArchicebus achilles and how it’s adding to what weunderstand about our own evolution.
The Archicebus achilles--named for its long tail andstrange feet--was found in an ancient lakebed in China. The lack ofoxygen at the bottom of the lake means that this specimen isremarkably complete and well-preserved. Recovered from sedimentaryrock strata deposited in an ancient lake roughly 55 million yearsago, this fossil is the oldest primate fossil, beating the previousrecord-holders--including Darwinius from Messel in Germany andNotharctus from the Bridger Basin in Wyoming --by 7 millionyears.
“It’s not just that it’s the oldest primate, but it turns outthat this fossil tells us that primates had already been evolvingfor quite some time. This primate was already fairly advanced interms of the evolutionary tree,” says Christopher Beard, a coauthorof the study and paleontologist from the Carnegie Museum of NaturalHistory.
The Archicebus sits at a branch of the evolutionarytree, which goes in two directions: one toward livingtarsiers—large-eyed night-dwelling small primates—and anthropoids,the monkeys, apes and humans, which have smaller eyes and are mostactive during the day.
This is the first time that we have had such a complete pictureof the divergence between these two branches.
“Any time you find a specimen like this, it’s a bit special.It’s adding a lot of depth of history,” says John Flynn, anothercoauthor and curator for the American Museum of NaturalHistory.
Given Archicebus’s size—weighing about an ounce andmeasuring 7 to 9 inches long including the tail—and its basalevolutionary position, this discover supports the idea that thecommon ancestor of both tarsiers and anthropoids were quite small.These two branches, anthropoids and tarsiers, have been thought tobe evolutionarily linked for some time, and now scientists arestarting to understand the age of that split.
Beyond its addition to our understanding of evolution, theancient primate is also unique in its physique. One of the mostcurious characteristics of the Archicebus is its feet.Tarsiers tend to have elongated heel bones, which help give themleverage for their giant leaps. Anthropoids have feet speciallydesigned for grasping—though humans are a bit of a special case,given our unique disposition of walking bipedally.
“I was convinced pretty early on by the foot of this creature,which looked like nothing else but a little marmoset, which is atype of monkey from South America. I was convinced this thing wasgoing to be a very primitive anthropoid,” Beard says. “Here’s ananimal that combines features that we’ve just never seen before inone fossil primate.”
But after the exhaustive analysis, it became clear thatArchicebus was also closely linked to tarsiers.
To fully analyze the fragile fossil, researchers collaboratedwith the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble,France. Using a high-intensity X-ray beam, the Synchrotron scannedthe fossil, producing high-resolution data. This data was thenrendered into 3-D versions to be analyzed and compared with otherprimates, both living and fossilized.
The analysis and data-gathering was one of the longest and mostextensive phases of the study. Researchers created a matrix thatincluded data from more than 150 species and more than 2,000different characteristics. All told, the process took 10 years andrequired collaboration from many institutions internationally. Butthe patience and practice is now finally paying off.
“[The Archicebus is like] what we find so often inpaleontology, but we can never predict it, and that’s an animalthat’s unlike everything else we’ve ever seen,” Beard says. “It’s akind of hybrid or mosaic of different features that are found indifferent animals today, but never together in one. It’s truly aunique creature.”
2 ) Please write a reflection ( 5 - 7 sentences) in thearticle below:
A tiny, beady-eyed, long-tailed primate with hand-like feet isnow the world’s oldest known fossil primate skeleton. In a study tobe released in the journal Nature this week, aninternational team of researchers describe their discovery of theArchicebus achilles and how it’s adding to what weunderstand about our own evolution.
The Archicebus achilles--named for its long tail andstrange feet--was found in an ancient lakebed in China. The lack ofoxygen at the bottom of the lake means that this specimen isremarkably complete and well-preserved. Recovered from sedimentaryrock strata deposited in an ancient lake roughly 55 million yearsago, this fossil is the oldest primate fossil, beating the previousrecord-holders--including Darwinius from Messel in Germany andNotharctus from the Bridger Basin in Wyoming --by 7 millionyears.
“It’s not just that it’s the oldest primate, but it turns outthat this fossil tells us that primates had already been evolvingfor quite some time. This primate was already fairly advanced interms of the evolutionary tree,” says Christopher Beard, a coauthorof the study and paleontologist from the Carnegie Museum of NaturalHistory.
The Archicebus sits at a branch of the evolutionarytree, which goes in two directions: one toward livingtarsiers—large-eyed night-dwelling small primates—and anthropoids,the monkeys, apes and humans, which have smaller eyes and are mostactive during the day.
This is the first time that we have had such a complete pictureof the divergence between these two branches.
“Any time you find a specimen like this, it’s a bit special.It’s adding a lot of depth of history,” says John Flynn, anothercoauthor and curator for the American Museum of NaturalHistory.
Given Archicebus’s size—weighing about an ounce andmeasuring 7 to 9 inches long including the tail—and its basalevolutionary position, this discover supports the idea that thecommon ancestor of both tarsiers and anthropoids were quite small.These two branches, anthropoids and tarsiers, have been thought tobe evolutionarily linked for some time, and now scientists arestarting to understand the age of that split.
Beyond its addition to our understanding of evolution, theancient primate is also unique in its physique. One of the mostcurious characteristics of the Archicebus is its feet.Tarsiers tend to have elongated heel bones, which help give themleverage for their giant leaps. Anthropoids have feet speciallydesigned for grasping—though humans are a bit of a special case,given our unique disposition of walking bipedally.
“I was convinced pretty early on by the foot of this creature,which looked like nothing else but a little marmoset, which is atype of monkey from South America. I was convinced this thing wasgoing to be a very primitive anthropoid,” Beard says. “Here’s ananimal that combines features that we’ve just never seen before inone fossil primate.”
But after the exhaustive analysis, it became clear thatArchicebus was also closely linked to tarsiers.
To fully analyze the fragile fossil, researchers collaboratedwith the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble,France. Using a high-intensity X-ray beam, the Synchrotron scannedthe fossil, producing high-resolution data. This data was thenrendered into 3-D versions to be analyzed and compared with otherprimates, both living and fossilized.
The analysis and data-gathering was one of the longest and mostextensive phases of the study. Researchers created a matrix thatincluded data from more than 150 species and more than 2,000different characteristics. All told, the process took 10 years andrequired collaboration from many institutions internationally. Butthe patience and practice is now finally paying off.
“[The Archicebus is like] what we find so often inpaleontology, but we can never predict it, and that’s an animalthat’s unlike everything else we’ve ever seen,” Beard says. “It’s akind of hybrid or mosaic of different features that are found indifferent animals today, but never together in one. It’s truly aunique creature.”