Tiny ancient worm sheds big light on evolution mystery

Harvard University, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology

 

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Uncus dzaugisi fossils preserved on LV-FUN bed at Nilpena Ediacara National Park.

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Credit: Credit: Gene Oh

A groundbreaking fossil discovery in remote South Australia sheds light on one of evolution’s greatest mysteries: the origins of Ecdysozoa, a superphylum of molting animals including insects, crustaceans, and nematodes.

Ecdysozoans are the largest, most species-rich animal group on Earth. Although more than half of all animals are ecdysozoans, scientists have long grappled with the lack of evidence of ecdysozoan ancestors in the fossil record, despite molecular evidence suggesting they should exist in the Precambrian.

Now, in a new study published in Current Biology, researchers describe Uncus dzaugisi, a 555-million-year-old worm-like organism preserved in the Precambrian rocks of Nilpena Ediacara National Park (NENP). This tiny fossil, barely over a few centimeters long, represents the oldest confirmed member of the Ecdysozoa and the only one known from the Precambrian period.

“It’s an incredibly exciting discovery,” said lead author Ian Hughes, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard. “Ecdysozoans were prevalent in the Cambrian fossil record and we know they didn’t just appear out of nowhere. But, until now, we had no concrete fossil evidence to confirm it.”

Hughes discovered Uncus in the Precambrian sandstone rocks at NENP, a site renowned for its exceptionally well-preserved Ediacaran lifeforms. Once an ancient seafloor, the park is dedicated to the research and preservation of Ediacaran fossils found in the sandstone sediments in the area. The site’s fine-grained sediments actually allowed for the extraordinary preservation and detail of Uncus.

“A lot of the beds that we have are relatively coarse-grained,” said Hughes, “but the sandstone in several new beds at Nilpena is so fine-grained that it allows for finer details and preservation of smaller animals.” The researchers worked carefully, using hand tools to dig into the rocky hillside. The Ediacaran seafloor reveals a time before animals began burrowing up and down between sediment. The top few ancient millimeters were covered in thick microbial mat materials where these first animals lived. Eventually, sediment covered and compressed these communities, creating a mold of their ancient ecosystem.

“Imagine pouring concrete over the ocean, waiting a half-billion years, and then flipping it over to find an entire ecosystem,” Hughes said. “That’s what’s really unique about this locality. Because they were all smothered at the same time, we can actually also conduct ecological work on the first animal ecosystems on Earth.”

There are over one hundred genera of Ediacaran fossils, yet none had ever been confidently assigned to the Ecdysozoa. The discovery of Uncus helps address the dilemma of the origins and rapid diversification of the Ecdysozoa lineages in the Cambrian. For the first time, Uncus offers direct evidence of early ecdysozoan life forms from the Precambrian.

The fossil’s unique features—including its cylindrical body, a consistent length-to-width ratio, remarkably rigid cuticle, and distinct curved traces indicating motility—point to similarities with modern nematodes. The team was especially excited to find trace fossils, as unlike many of its squishy contemporaries, which were not especially mobile, Uncus was quite active. It wasn’t until the researchers moved to a different section of the site in 2019 and found a shift in the composition of the microbial mat that they were able to see the ecdysozoan fossils and traces that revealed this ancient species and its motility.

“It’s a remarkable find, as it places Ecdysozoans in the Precambrian Eon, supporting the theory that this lineage predates the Cambrian explosion,” said Hughes. “Ecdysozoans are so diverse and occupy so many niches, that to actually identify an early one and see what Ecdysozoans were doing is just amazing.”

Nilpena Ediacara National Park (NENP) is more than a field site for Hughes and the team – it’s been a part of Hughes and his family’s lives for 25 years. After so many years of working there, Hughes and his family have built a deep relationship with the indigenous community and the cattle ranch owners who sold part of their land to develop NENP and preserve the Ediacaran fossils. Hughes and his team are very careful to not disturb the structure and layout of the park, as no rock is allowed to be removed from the site.

With a grant from NASA, they were able to secure a 3D laser scanner that provides high-resolution images of all of their findings in the field. “We do everything we can to make sure every rock stays on site,” said Hughes, “The only exception is if we discover and describe a new species. Then, we deposit a holotype in the Museum in South Australia. This is really important to our work ethic, to not disrupt the land that belongs to the indigenous people.”

Moving forward, the researchers plan to use the laser scan data to study the curvature and movement of this species. “Uncus body fossils and associated trace fossils give us a really unique opportunity to look in detail into the sinuosity and curvature to model the potential musculature of this ancient species,” Hughes said.  “Moreover, because these fossils are preserved on fossil bed surfaces, we can investigate the ecology of this taxon and try to understand whether its distribution on the seafloor might correlate with another species or a particular type of microbial mat structure.”

Uncus dzaugis is named in honor of Mary, Matthew, and Peter Dzaugis for their past and continuing contributions to fieldwork at NENP

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Authors Scott Evans and Ian Hughes mapping Uncus specimens on a fossil bed surface at Nilpena Ediacara National Park

The team excavating LV-FUN bed, where Uncus was first recognized.

Credit

Credit: Gene Oh

Journal

Current Biology

DOI

10.1016/j.cub.2024.10.030 

Article Title

An Ediacaran bilaterian with an ecdysozoan affinity from South Australia

Article Publication Date

16-Dec-2024

 

The psychological implications of Big Brother’s gaze

University of Technology Sydney

A new psychological study has shown that when people know they are under surveillance it generates an automatic response of heightened awareness of being watched, with implications for public mental health.

In a paper published in the journal Neuroscience of Consciousness psychology researchers from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) worked with 54 participants to examine the effects of surveillance on an essential function of human sensory perception – the ability to detect another person’s gaze.

Lead author, Associate Professor of neuroscience and behaviour Kiley Seymour, said previous research has established the effects on conscious behaviour when people know they are being watched, but the new study provided the first direct evidence that being watched also has an involuntary response.

“We know CCTV changes our behaviour, and that’s the main driver for retailers and others wanting to deploy such technology to prevent unwanted behaviour,” Associate Professor Seymour said.

“However, we show it’s not only overt behaviour that changes – our brain changes the way it processes information.

“We found direct evidence that being conspicuously monitored via CCTV markedly impacts a hardwired and involuntary function of human sensory perception – the ability to consciously detect a face.

“It’s a mechanism that evolved for us to detect other agents and potential threats in our environment, such as predators and other humans, and it seems to be enhanced when we’re being watched on CCTV.

“Our surveilled participants became hyper aware of face stimuli almost a second faster than the control group. This perceptual enhancement also occurred without participants realising it.”

Associate Professor Seymour said that given the increasing level of surveillance in society and the ongoing debates around privacy reform, the study’s findings suggested the need for closer examination of the effects of surveillance on mental processes and on public health more broadly.

“We had a surprising yet unsettling finding that despite participants reporting little concern or preoccupation with being monitored, its effects on basic social processing were marked, highly significant and imperceptible to the participants.

“The ability to rapidly detect faces is of critical importance to human social interactions. Information conveyed in faces, such as gaze direction, enables us to construct models of other people’s minds and to use this information to predict behaviour.

“We see hyper-sensitivity to eye gaze in mental health conditions like psychosis and social anxiety disorder where individuals hold irrational beliefs or preoccupations with the idea of being watched.

“Whilst this investigation was specifically focussed on unconscious social processes, future investigations should explore effects on the limbic system more broadly, which would have more general implications for public mental health and the importance of privacy.”

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Journal

Neuroscience of Consciousness

DOI

10.1093/nc/niae039 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Big brother: the effects of surveillance on fundamental aspects of social vision

Article Publication Date

10-Dec-2024

 

Attitudes toward psychedelic therapy reveal both promise and caution, new study finds

Psychedelic care facilitators express optimism about benefits while maintaining awareness of potential risks

Genomic Press

 

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Psilocybe semilanceata

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Credit: Arp - This image is Image Number 6514 at Mushroom Observer, a source for mycological images.

ATLANTA, Georgia, USA, 17 December 2024 - In a comprehensive Genomic Press Interview with researchers from Emory University, a new study published today reveals complex attitudes toward psychedelic therapy, with detailed statistics showing both strong support for potential benefits and significant awareness of risks.

The research, published in the journal Psychedelics, surveyed 178 attendees at an academic conference focused on psychedelics and spiritual care. Among participants, 32 were active psychedelic therapy facilitators, of whom 87.5% reported prior personal experience with psychedelics and 62.1% had used psychedelics specifically for therapeutic purposes.

"What struck us most was the sophisticated understanding of both benefits and risks among attendees of the conference as well as psychedelic care practitioners," says Professor Roman Palitsky from Emory University's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, the study's corresponding author. “While 40.2% of participants agreed that psychedelics could be harmful even in therapeutic contexts, we also found strong belief in their potential benefits, particularly for specific conditions,” added Dr. Zachary Bosshardt, lead author of the study.

Dr. Jessica L. Maples-Keller, study co-author, elaborates on the findings regarding treatment approaches: "Among facilitators, we found a preference for established therapeutic frameworks, with 65.6% utilizing supportive or Rogerian psychotherapy, and many others utilizing structured approaches likes cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). This suggests a bridge between traditional therapeutic approaches and psychedelic treatment."

"These findings tell us something important about the evolving landscape of psychedelic therapy," notes Dr. Boadie W. Dunlop, another study co-author. "We're seeing a field that's maturing beyond simple enthusiasm to develop a more nuanced understanding of both opportunities and challenges."

Dr. Deanna M. Kaplan, who contributed to the study, points out an interesting finding: "The fact that 30.7% of respondents answered 'not sure' about potential harmful effects suggests an appropriate level of professional humility about these powerful compounds. This uncertainty might actually be healthy for the field's development."

The research also highlighted important questions about the future of psychedelic therapy, particularly regarding training protocols and the integration of traditional practices with modern medical approaches.

Professor Barbara Rothbaum emphasizes the implications for clinical practice: "Our findings suggest we need to develop robust safety protocols while maintaining optimism about therapeutic potential. The high rate of personal psychedelic use among facilitators - 87.5% for any use and 62.1% for therapeutic purposes - also raises important questions about training and preparation for practitioners."

The full article, titled "Reading the crowd: attitudes toward psychedelics and psychedelic therapies among attendees at a conference" is freely available online on 17 December 2024 at Psychedelics: https://doi.org/10.61373/pp024r.0040.

About Psychedelics - Psychedelics: The Journal of Psychedelic Pharmacology (ISSN: 2997-2671) is a peer-reviewed medical research journal published by Genomic Press, New York. Psychedelics is exclusively dedicated to the latest advancements in the realm of psychedelic substances and their potential therapeutic uses. We embrace the full spectrum of research, from fundamental investigations to cutting-edge clinical studies. Psychedelics welcomes diverse perspectives and contributions, advancing the understanding of psychedelic compounds.

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Journal

Psychedelics

DOI

10.61373/pp024r.0040 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Reading the crowd: attitudes toward psychedelics and psychedelic therapies among attendees at a conference

Article Publication Date

17-Dec-2024

COI Statement

JLM-K has received research support from Wounded Warrior Project and Compass Pathways and has served as a consultant of Compass Pathways. BR receives royalties from Oxford University Press, Guilford, APPI, Psych Campus, and Emory University and received advisory board payments from Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Bioserenity, Cerebral Therapeutics, Otsuka, Psychwire, and Senseye. BR owns equity in Virtually Better, Inc. that creates virtual environments. The terms of these arrangements have been reviewed and approved by Emory University in accordance with its conflict of interest policies. BWD has received research support from Boehringer Ingelheim, Compass Pathways, NIMH, Usona Institute, and has served as a consultant for Biohaven, Cerebral Therapeutics, Myriad Neuroscience, NRx Pharmaceuticals, and Otsuka. RP has received research support from the Jim Joseph Foundation via Shefa Jewish Psychedelic Support and the Vail Health Foundation. ZB, DK, JZ, GHG, KDJ, and SE report no disclosures. TM reports no disclosures. The corresponding author had full access to all the data in the study and had final responsibility for the decision to submit for publication. The manuscript has been read and approved by all authors.

 

Researchers demonstrate high accuracy of observation device that can be dropped into typhoon without parachute

Nagoya University

 

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With fins and light-weight body, the newly developed dropsonde works without parachute unlike conventional ones.

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Credit: Reiko Matsushita

Researchers in Japan have demonstrated the high accuracy of their newly developed typhoon observation device, which is designed to drop from an aircraft into the eye of a typhoon. The results were published in the journal Scientific Online Letters on the Atmosphere (SOLA).

Dropped from aircraft, the dropsonde, a small, single-use instrument, measures and transmits atmospheric data, including temperature, humidity, and wind speed, as it falls. The new dropsonde, iMDS-17, weighs only 130 grams and is made mainly of a biodegradable material. With its fin and lightweight body, iMDS-17 can descend without a parachute, unlike conventional dropsondes.

To predict whether a typhoon will intensify and where it will move, it is important to know how temperature, wind, and humidity are changing. In Japan, airborne instruments called radiosondes are commonly used to observe the upper atmosphere. Radiosondes are launched from land using a rubber balloon. However, the strong winds and rain associated with typhoons, which form and develop over the ocean, make this process difficult.

To overcome this shortcoming, a research group at Nagoya University in collaboration with Meisei Electric Co. has developed Japan's first dropsonde that can be dropped from an airplane into the eye of a typhoon to obtain vertical profiles of temperature, humidity, and winds.

Designated Associate Professor Sachie Kanada and her colleagues at Nagoya University, in collaboration with researchers from Meisei Electric and the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience, have conducted a study to evaluate the performance of their newly developed dropsonde. They evaluated the performance by comparing data from their dropsonde with data from an accuracy assured radiosonde used by the Japan Meteorological Agency.

Before that, dropsondes were rarely evaluated because their use was restricted to the ocean, making simultaneous comparisons with radiosondes impractical.

In their study, conducted on one of the islands of Okinawa in Japan, on March 27 and 28, the dropsonde and the reference radiosonde were launched simultaneously with the same balloon. A cutter with a timer was placed between the balloon and the two instruments. When the balloon reached an altitude of 12 km, the timer was activated, and both instruments were separated from the balloon and dropped. Each instrument measured the temperature, wind, and humidity as they descended, and the data from the dropsonde were compared with the data from the radiosonde.

Differences between the dropsonde and radiosonde data were less than 1 K and 2 m/sec. for temperature and wind, respectively, at most altitudes between 9 km and 2 km. The results showed a high performance of the dropsonde for temperature and wind observations. Humidity, however, tended to be drier than that of the radiosonde measurements and still needed improvement.

To observe the dropsonde in actual storm conditions, on October 9 and 10, 2024, Designated Associate Professor Kanada and Professor Kazuhisa Tsuboki of the Nagoya University Institute for Space and Earth Environmental Research dropped a total of 50 dropsondes from an aircraft into the eye of Typhoon Barijat.

Kanada explained: “On October 9, we had just arrived around the storm center in the typhoon genesis phase. The observed profiles of atmospheric conditions for the midlatitude typhoon were delivered worldwide via the Global Telecommunication System (GTS) of the WMO and used for the weather forecasting systems. This time, we preverified humidity data of the dropsondes and the data was improved. Using this dropsonde, we are planning to have another aircraft observation in 2025.”  

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Journal

SOLA

DOI

10.2151/sola.2024-050 

Article Title

Evaluation of newly developed dropsonde for aircraft observation

 

Rapid evolution: Researchers discover surprising novelty in mechanisms that determine sex of the African clawed frog

McMaster University

 

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African clawed frogs are known for their flat bodies, vocal organs and claws on the first three toes of the hind feet. 

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Credit: Adam Bewick

Hamilton, ON, Dec. 16, 2024 – Researchers at McMaster University have uncovered unexpected diversity in the genetic processes that determine the sex of the African clawed frog, a significant discovery in what was already one of the most widely studied amphibians in the world.

A genomic analysis has uncovered a total of eight different sex chromosomes in just 11 species of the frog, many or all of which may contain unique and newly evolved genes that trigger male or female sexual differentiation.  

Previously, researchers had known of only three different sex chromosomes in these frogs. 

“In these frogs, we’ve discovered extraordinary variation even among closely related species, which allows us to explore how important things like sex determination evolve rapidly,” says Ben Evans, a professor in the Department of Biology at McMaster and lead author of a new study in the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution.  Evans conducted the work with colleagues from the Czech Republic, France, the USA, and South Africa.

The African clawed frog is used as a model organism for biological research because of its close evolutionary relationship to humans, and because early development occurs externally, allowing fundamental processes to be readily observed and manipulated.

The frogs are found in sub-Saharan Africa and live in slow-moving or stagnant water. They are known for their flat bodies, vocal organs which can produce sound underwater, and claws on the first three toes of the hind feet, which they use to tear food apart.  

In this study, the researchers pinpointed the locations of the newly-identified sex chromosomes, which added to their surprise.

Prevailing theory had suggested that sex-determining genes might typically arise in regions of the genome with a low rate of recombination -- the exchange of genetic material within each parent that creates new mixtures of traits in their offspring.

Instead, they found these newly evolved genes were almost universally located in regions where genetic recombination is high, raising questions about how and why the genetic basis of very important biological traits – such as sexual differentiation – may evolve so quickly, and how new genes and genetic function arise.

“If you conducted these same tests within some even older groups such as most mammals or all birds, you would find that their sex chromosomes are all the same,” explains Evans. “But this group of frogs -- in sharp contrast -- has incredible variation.” 

“It is very likely that new genes arose many times in these frogs to orchestrate sexual differentiation, by acting as an ‘on-off switch’ or a ‘male-female switch’ at the top of the developmental cascade,” he says. 

In 2015, Evans—who has studied the African clawed frog for over two decades—led a team which discovered six new species and added another back to the list of known species, providing the foundational information for this current work. 

 

Attention editors:  Photos of the African clawed frog can be found at this link: https://photos.app.goo.gl/rAvwAJSgWujyAxY27

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The African clawed frog is used as a model organism for biological research because of its close evolutionary relationship to humans. 

Credit

Adam Bewick

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Journal

Molecular Biology and Evolution

DOI

10.1093/molbev/msae234 

Article Title

Rapid Sex Chromosome Turnover in African Clawed Frogs (Xenopus) and the Origins of New Sex Chromosomes

Article Publication Date

12-Dec-2024

COI Statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

 

Federal needle exchange programs are cost-effective to reduce health care costs, blood-borne infections

Canadian Medical Association Journal

“Needle exchange programs are evidence-based strategies that prevent transmission of blood-borne viruses, reduce injection-related infections, improve access to medical care, and facilitate entry into substance dependence programs for people who inject drugs,” writes Dr. Farah Houdroge, Disease Elimination Program, Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Australia, with coauthors.

The World Health Organization has set a target of reducing hepatitis C infections to fewer than 2 per 100 people who inject drugs per year as part of an elimination strategy for hepatitis C. In 2024, Canada unveiled its 2024–2030 Sexually Transmitted and Blood-Borne Infection Action Plan that emphasized support for harm reduction programs and expanding the PNEP.

Researchers from Canada and Australia sought to assess the return on investment for Canada’s PNEP, and the potential impact of scaling it up, as part of efforts to eliminate blood-borne infections in prisons. Using a modelling study, they found that expanding the program to 50% of people in all federal prisons who inject drugs from 2025 to 2030 would prevent 15% of new hepatitis C cases and 8% of injection-related infections compared with the status quo.

“This study adds to the growing body of evidence supporting PNEPs as effective harm reduction strategies that are also cost saving. Given that they show both health and economic benefits, PNEPs should be a priority not just in Canada, but globally,” the authors conclude.

In a related commentary, authors argue that more comprehensive interventions to make substance use in correctional institutions safer, and specifically reduce related risks of acute death, are needed. “Prison-based programs aimed at mitigating the health harms of substance use by correctional inmate populations should be carefully evaluated as part of their implementation, as has been done in the related research with specific respect to needle exchange programs. Without systematic expansion of and increased access to such programs, prisoners in Canada will remain at unnecessarily high risk of ill health and death from the adverse consequences of substance use,” the authors conclude.

“Cost–benefit analysis of Canada’s Prison Needle Exchange Program for the prevention of hepatitis C and injection-related infections” and “The burden of drug overdose deaths among correctional populations: implications for interventions” are published December 16, 2024.

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Journal

Canadian Medical Association Journal

DOI

10.1503/cmaj.241661 

Method of Research

Commentary/editorial

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

The burden of drug overdose deaths among correctional populations: implications for interventions

Article Publication Date

16-Dec-2024

 

It’s worth mixing it up: what combination of policies will lead to a clean energy future?

University of Basel

How can we ensure that as many households as possible adopt not only solar panels, but also their own battery to store solar energy, a heat pump, and an electric car? Researchers at the Universities of Basel and Geneva have looked into just this question.

Climate protection and the energy revolution must continue to make progress, and private households could make a significant contribution to this goal if they would use environmentally friendly technologies such as solar panels, electric vehicles, and heat pumps. Dr. Mart van der Kam and Professor Ulf Hahnel at the University of Basel, Switzerland, conducted research into the political measures that would be necessary to fully realize this potential.

Together with researchers from the University of Geneva, their team first surveyed nearly 1,500 Swiss households on why they decided for or against environmentally friendly technologies. They then fed the data into a dynamic model representing the households and their interactions as a society of decision-makers. This allowed the researchers to test which policy measures best met the needs of the households and would therefore support these technologies being more widely adopted. Their findings recently appeared in Cell Reports Sustainability.

Individual incentives have too little effect

Mart van der Kam acknowledges that increasing competition among manufacturers is making it more affordable and more attractive for consumers to adopt environmentally friendly technologies such as electric cars. However, he says that political measures are necessary to encourage more widespread use of technologies such as solar panels and heat pumps. “It’s not individual incentives, but rather the proper mix of political measures that makes a decisive difference,” he emphasizes, summarizing their findings.

Subsidies for solar panels or heat pumps, for example, are just one piece of the puzzle. It is also important to remove the barriers that prevent renters from using these technologies. “Until now, the building owners have had to make the investment, but the renters have profited from the reduced energy costs,” van der Kam points out. This has made the investment less worthwhile for the owners.

Solutions for renters

The example of solar panels demonstrates how such hurdles for renters can be dismantled via government intervention: for several years now, renters have had the right to install solar panels on their balconies. Van der Kam suggests that policies supporting similar solutions for heat pumps or energy storage might be possible in the future, perhaps in the form of neighborhood batteries that could be supplied with solar energy from multiple buildings or an entire district at once and then used as a power source.

“Nearly two-thirds of Swiss households are renters. This represents an enormous untapped potential that could provide a major step forward toward the energy revolution,” says Ulf Hahnel. He argues that interdisciplinary research that not only takes technological innovations into account, but also consumers’ various preferences, can identify paths for targeted stimulus packages and structures. “We must bring different disciplines and their methods together to tackle complex and multifaceted challenges such as climate change and the energy revolution,” Hahnel emphasizes.

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Journal

Cell Reports Sustainability

DOI

10.1016/j.crsus.2024.100268 

Article Title

An empirical agent-based model of consumer co-adoption of low-carbon technologies to inform energy policy

Article Publication Date

12-Dec-2024