Scientists decode Platypus genome
Mikey 10 comments
For the benefit of our non-Australian audience, let me tell you a little about the seemingly botched freak of nature that is our native Platypus, and why decoding its genome is significant.
The Platypus is one of natures paradoxes and it's often been mused as being something God created as a joke.
It is classified as a mammal because it produces milk and has a thick coat of fur. But unlike a mammal, the female lays eggs like a reptile, and the male can attack with a vemon concealed under its back feet. It has webbed feet like a bird and a bill like a duck, and uses electroreception to track prey underwater like a shark even with its eyes ears and nostrils closed.
So now its DNA has been decoded, Oxford University's Scientist Chris Ponting and Richard Wilson say:
"The platypus genome is extremely important, because it is the missing link in our understanding of how we and other mammals first evolved...This is our ticket back in time to when all mammals laid eggs while suckling their young on milk."
"By comparing the platypus genome to other mammalian genomes, we'll be able to study genes that have been conserved throughout evolution"
Gong
Thursday 8th May 2008 | 11:10 AMCan't wait to see what the creationists think about this
Kim OJ
Thursday 8th May 2008 | 02:53 PM...in response to this comment by Gong. Clearly they will reference Noa's inventory sheet where it clearly states he had two Divine Jokes on board.
Jay
Thursday 8th May 2008 | 04:38 PMI remember whilst doing by Biology degree that the Platypus has three other weird things that most don't realise. Their hip structure is similar to that of a reptiles (legs coming out 90o from body rather than under as per mammals), their heart has more in common with reptiles than true mammals, and lastly they have a cloaca (combined anus/reproductive outlet) as per reptiles
I like to think of them as a creationists nightmare, the missing link so to speak between reptile/birds and modern mammals. These things are so ancient that of course they have their weirdness, and thats why I like them.
Jim
Thursday 8th May 2008 | 08:09 PM...in response to this comment by Jay. I never did well in biology, but the cloaca is interesting. I guess that proves gay sex does occur in the wild... Just saying.
Gong
Thursday 8th May 2008 | 09:07 PMAnother thing the creationists will love: human embryos have cloacae
Jay
Friday 9th May 2008 | 06:34 AM...in response to this comment by Gong. Oh yes, and gills too :)
Embryos pretty well go through most evolutionary phases on their way to maturity: single cell, multi cellular, amphibian, and all the way to ape with a full coat of hair, until birth. Fascinating really
Jonno
Friday 9th May 2008 | 11:33 AMWhat s strange land it must be down under.
Henk V
Thursday 18th March 2010 | 06:28 PMthey are purdy things... spot them sometimes when fishing in the snowies.
Gong, if you want to own one, they have a venomous spur... it's so friggen painful that men pass out... women are tougher and bite the bastards back!
Jake
Thursday 8th May 2008 | 08:27 AMI think research like this is of vital importance, I wonde what secrets it will unlock.