Ancient Penguin Discoveries and Evolution
In a recent BBC News article, Ivan Noble discusses the possibility that ancient penguins may hold the key to unlocking the mysteries behind the complicated molecular clock of evolution. Although a seemingly unlikely animal to research, prehistoric penguin remains in the Antarctic often have been the basis for study, research, as well as debate in the modern science world. Because the prehistoric relatives of the cute and cuddly modern day birds have colonies that are “characterized by high densities and high mortality”, large deposits of the subfossil bones “have been serially preserved in the cold Antarctic environment” (Lambert & Ritchie), making the animals prime candidates for scientific research and testing. Massey University’s David Lambert along with his colleagues have recently unearthed the remains of two distinct types of ancient Adelie penguins living in the Antarctic (Noble), and his findings may prove vital to a better understanding of far more than simply an advancement in the penguin fossil record. By digging past Noble’s article and into the original study reported in Science Magazine, the actual significance of the Adelie Penguin study becomes clear.
The penguins’ remains are crucial in order to identify and to contrast individual differences between the two lineages throughout history. Not only have scientists compared the ancient DNA of the two types with each other, but also they have expanded their comparison to include living penguins as well. Out of the 96 radiocarbon-aged bones tested (the oldest fossil dating back nearly 8000 years ago), the scientists found “large numbers of mitochondrial haplotypes” (Lambert & Ritchie), some of which now ...
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Although the connection between the human evolutionary clock and the Adelie Penguins’ evolutionary clock remains unconfirmed, the Adelie Penguin discoveries are sure to be the basis for much debate and future testing. Only time, research, (and perhaps the ancient penguins) will reveal how fast our own clock is ticking.
Works Cited:
Lambert D. M. & P.A. Ritchie. “Rates of Evolution in Ancient DNA from Adelie Penguins”. Science, Vol 295, Issue 5563, 2270-2273, 22 March 2002. http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/295/5563/2270?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=DNA+Penguins&searchid=1080445587175_6967&stored_search=&FIRSTINDEX=0 .
Noble, Ivan. “Ancient Penguins Yield Evolution Clue”. BBC News Online, Sci/Tech 21 March, 2002. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1885384.stm .
Robles de Melendez, W. (2010). Teaching Young Children in Multicultural Classrooms: Issues, Concepts, and Strategies (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
Neves, A. M., & Serva, M. (2012). Extremely Rare Interbreeding Events Can Explain Neanderthal DNA in Living Humans. Plos ONE, 7(10), 1-10. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0047076
Delpit, Lisa. “The Silenced Dialogue: Power and Pedagogy in Educating Other People’s Children.” Other People’s Children: Cultural Conflicts in the Classroom. New York: The New Press, 1995.
For this evolution project, I choose to research Penguins. The classification for this animal is as follows: K Neornithes, P Palaeognathae, C Neognathae, O Pelecaniformes, F Procellariformes, G Graviidae, S Spheniscidae. The first fossil penguin that was found, is today being held in the British Museum of Natural History. It was reportedly found by an anonymous Maori in New Zealand in 1859 and was named Palaeeudyptes Antarcticus despite the fact that the species was located far away from Antarctica. Since that discovery many more fossils were found and were dated back to the Miocene era and three others from the Pliocene era. Several fossils were dated to the Late Pliocene era and others from the Recent era. The earliest avian fossil found in the southern hemisphere is said to have existed in the Eocene age about 38-54 million years ago. There is evidence that at least three of the modern penguins (Aptenodytes, Spheniscus and Pygoscelis) went extinct within the last 4-5 million years. The remainder of the penguins are from 5-40 million years ago, dating back to the time currently recorded, when penguins evolved from other modern birds. Research suggests that the tallest of these penguins were about 6 feet tall. Penguins did originate from an ancestor that flew some 40 million years ago. The common ancestor is assumed to have been somewhat similar to a modern-day diving petrel or auk in appearance and behavior.
The trumpet is an ancient instrument, its roots are found in drawings dating to 1500 BC by the Egyptians and the Teutonic tribes. No instrument has changed as much during its existence as these series of instruments. The prehistoric trumpet was 120 cm long and had a conical tube at one end measuring 10 cm in diameter, expanding to 26 cm at the other. The trumpet's basic design was a single, unvarying tube until the mid 1800s when slides and/or valves were added to make additional notes possible. Trumpets through history have been generally associated with either military or religious uses. It was used as battle cries into the depths of war and to make loud noises to potentially frighten the bewildered enemy. Because the style of war changed it soon lost its place on the battle field and was used more for ceremonies and signaling. The Renaissance brought improvements to trumpeters as they gained stature in royal courts and the instruments began to be used more for "musical" playing. Religious users of the instrument include the Romans, Tibetans, and Israelites, who allowed only priests to play the trumpet. The King James version of the Bible makes many references to the instrument, associating it with the voices of angels. The trumpet's popularity rose during the Baroque period, but declined through the early 1800s, as it grew too "courtly" and out of favor. The addition of slides and valves in the 1800s brought new life to the trumpet as it was used more frequently in orchestral writing. Some popular solo trumpet pieces include; The Artunian, The Hummel, The Hynd, Rhapsody in Blue, and The Sandoval.
Before the announcement of Longisquama, the earliest known animal with feathers was Archaeopteryx, a bird capable of flight that lived roughly 145 million years ago.1 It has been proposed that Archaeopteryx is the intermediary between birds and predatory theropods, such as Deinonychus.2 The discovery that Longisquama had feathers strongly questions the evolutionary origins of Archaeopteryx, and additionally may discredit the belief that it is the link between birds and dinosaurs.
The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. "Fossil Record." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 15 May 2014.
These penguins lived after the Castastrophic event “Cretaceuous” that demolished the dinosaurs and many other species. Based on the DNA analyses and avaiable evidence of modern birds, we think the modern bird- lineages, including penguins, some how managed to survive through the Cretaceuous. Also it’s not shocking these fossils were found in New Zeland. The South Pacific and Southern oceans were free of predatory mammals, had abundant food, and had space for Penguins to breed. But the Southern Pacific is not the only area where Penguins inhabit. Many of modern penguins “Aptrenodytes” are located in the Antarctic. Recenelty it was discovered that there was a over looked feature on the surface of the fossil penguins flipper bone. These grooves were easily missed because the look was similar to tendons and muscles in the same area. It was discovered that these grooves were blood vessels that make up a counter current heat exchanger called “humeral arterial plexus” which allows penguins to limit the heat loss through the flippers. Also it helped Penguins maintain their core body temperature in cold water allowing them to survive long journeys in the cold waters. Although Penguins have luckily been able develop these traits to survive the dramatic shifts in climate, the world population can not mistake their success as resilience towards global warming.
Growing diversity within the public school has policymakers, curriculum specialists, administrators, and teachers seeking ways to reduce the achievement gap that plaques learners from culturally different backgrounds while continually working to provide multicultural curriculum and activities that promotes social acceptance, reduces racism, and cultural differences. Schools should recognize that they can serve as a significant force in countering discrimination and the various “-isms” that affect people from culturally diverse backgrounds, women, and the disabled (Manning & Baruth, 2009). The purpose of this paper is to discuss ways in which teachers can collaborate with administrators to revise the instructional approach to address the diversified cultural learning needs of the class. Further...
Delpit's article is in support of the multicultural education theory. She invites the reader to travel with her "to other worlds…learning to see albeit dimly, through the haze of our own cultural lenses" (Delpit, 1995, pg.69). Delpit's article identifies the four problems of educating poor and culturally diverse children she believes educators need to resolve in order to achieve multiculturalism in the classroom.
As an educator one must understand that the children you will be teaching will all come from different backgrounds, different ethnicities, different homes with different values. No one student will be the same, and no one student will learn the same. The role of a modern educator is to harness this idea of diversity and channel it into a positive learning atmosphere for children of all backgrounds. “I define culturally responsive teaching as using the cultural knowledge, prior experiences, frames of reference, and performance styles of ethnically diverse students to make learning encounters more relevant to and effective for them” (Gay, 2013, p.50.). The hope for all teachers is to capture the minds of their children, as educators we must learn how our students learn, adapt to their skill set and channel our curriculum to their strength.
Music has shaped the lives of people throughout history. Even in its earliest forms, music has included use of instruments. One of the oldest musical instruments known is a variation of the flute; the original flute is thought to date back nearly 67,000 years ago. Tonight we are going to move throughout the eras with a history of instrumental music. This concert will begin with the Renaissance Era and continue through time until we have reached modern instrumental music.
Dinosaur Fossils in Antarctica Millions and millions of years ago, the continents lay together as one super-continent known as Pangea. As time went on and the plates underneath the Earth began to separate, the continents land moved towards the poles where glaciation occurred. Glaciation is the process in which glaciers were formed during the ice age. Glaciation causes a drop in temperature which in turn causes water to freeze and form many layers of ice (http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/Palaeofiles/Permian/intro.html, 1). Due to this layering of ice that has occurred at both poles, it has not been easy to discover new dinosaur fossils.
The concepts included in providing a more diverse, multicultural education are requiring teachers to review their own issues and prejudices while expanding their knowledge of the many cultures that make up the classroom. These efforts help the educator recognize the various individual and cultural differences of each student, as well as gain an understanding on how these differences impact the learning process. The purpose of this paper is to reflect upon individual and cultural difference research and why diverse students struggle to succeed in school. Furthermore, I will share some instructional approaches I could implement in the classroom to accommodate diverse students. Finally, I will discuss the responsibility of educators in addressing the issue of how our o...
The world is currently undergoing a cultural change, and we live in an increasingly diverse society. This change is not only affect the people in the community but also affect the way education is viewed. Teaching diversity in the classroom and focusing multicultural activities in the programs can help improve positive social behavior in children. There is no question that the education must be prepared to embrace the diversity and to teach an increasingly diverse population of young children.