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Is the platypus the paragon of mammals?
Researchers have produced the most comprehensive genomes yet of the platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) and echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus). The only two extant monotremes (egg-laying mammals) are sometimes seen as the odd ones out of the mammal world. But because they diverged from other mammals so early — about 187 million years ago — some of their most bizarre traits reflect those of our shared ancestors. “In my opinion, among mammals, the platypus is the most fascinating species of all,” says genomicist Wesley Warren. “They represent the ancestral state of what terrestrial mammal genomes could have been before adapting to various environments.”
The New York Times | 4 min read
News
Tree snake uses lasso locomotion
Researchers have observed a new mode of locomotion in the brown tree snake (Boiga irregularis) in Guam: tying its body into a lasso. Video footage shows how the invasive snake uses the technique to shimmy up smooth poles installed to protect bird nests. “We have no human technology that can come close to what this snake is doing,” says biophysicist Daniel Goldman.
Six rangers killed in Virunga National Park
Six rangers were killed and one was seriously injured in an attack in Virunga National Park in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that is home to large populations of endangered mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) and eastern chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii). The park’s management has blamed Mai-Mai fighters — local militias — for the deaths. Last year, 12 rangers and 5 others were killed in “the worst episode of violence in the park’s history”, reports Mongabay.
Features & opinion
Indigenous researchers and their knowledge
Although racial-justice initiatives around the world have sparked a renewed focus on the need to recruit and retain more people from minority ethnic groups in STEM, Indigenous researchers — and Indigenous knowledge — remain at risk of being overlooked. Nature spoke to four Indigenous academic scientists about the challenges these early-career researchers face, and how scientists can respectfully and effectively bring together traditional knowledge and Western science.
How I mastered my first literature review
With his laboratory closed, Saurja DasGupta had the time to write his first review as sole author. It was rejected. But he persisted, and learnt a lot about the process of writing, how to respond to edits and, ultimately, how to get published.
Image of the week
This baby Namib web-footed gecko (Pachydactylus rangei) fluoresces under ultraviolet light. The intense neon-green and blue glow — among the brightest fluorescence in any vertebrate — is produced by modified pigment cells called iridophores. Why many animals fluoresce is still a mystery — but in this case, the pattern suggests that it helps these social animals to signal to each other across the moonlit desert. (Herpetologist and evolutionary biologist Mark Scherz’s personal blog | 7 min read)
Reference: Scientific Reports paper