Adventure Ausrama Blog

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Jurassic Park is getting closer to reality. Australian scientists have managed to get DNA from fossilised eggshells of extinct birds. The Team warns though that bringing ancient creatures back to life is a long way off. Particles of fossilised eggshells from Australia, New Zealand and Madagascar were used in the research. A target species was the Moa bird which lived in New Zealand into the 18th century. Another was the Elephant Bird which went extinct in Madagascar during the 17th century. Older birds were also worked on: the New Zealand Duck, Australian Owl and an Emu which was 19,000 years old. Work on older fossils did not come up with usable DNA, but the relatively recent ones did give promising results. Techniques used were the usual reduction of samples and polymerase amplification. These were very short pieces of DNA obtained from minute samples. Eggshells were found to be even better than bones and hair for storing DNA. http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http:/...

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Despite the idea that everything is known about everything, the area of discovery is still wide open. Just outside of Perth in the sand dunes a new species of lizard has been found. It has been given the name Ctenotus ora . There are concerns that it will not be around for much longer. New housing is encroaching upon the coastal plains skink's land. The lizard was identified during an Australian National University study into biological diversity in the Perth region. Just how many of the lizards are out there is not yet known, so their prospects of survival is still an open question. The area of sand dunes where they live is getting smaller. Unless the state government steps in to stop it, urbanization will see most of the dunes concreted over. The southwest of the state has not been explored in great depth. Other new species are probably waiting to be brought to light. Though people have been there a long time, concerns about work and shelter have been the priority not ...

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Birds are the most diverse creatures on Earth.  Not only have they changed into different species on large continents, they have also adapted specifically to environments on islands. A new classification system is in the form of a circle with increasing diversity as one moves out in time from the center.  different types of birds are correctly located on the figure covering a period of 50 million years. There is not one specific ancestor.  "Base" species take the form  of a circle of time moving out from the center and new kinds of birds branch off directly to the outer edge.  Fast evolving birds are in red; slower ones are drawn in blue. Significantly birds such as woodpeckers often split into new species, while hornbills, for example, did not.  There was more diversification in the Western Hemisphere.  Furthermore, species did not proliferate in the tropics because the climate remained stable there over a long period. http://www.adventure--austral...

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