Mammals island-hopped from Australia to colonise the world

Australian Scientists Confirm Marsupial and Placental Mammals Evolved in the Southern Hemisphere

Peer-Reviewed Publication

TAYLOR & FRANCIS GROUP

 

IMAGE: PROFESSOR KRIS HELGEN (LEFT) AND PROFESSOR TIM FLANNERY WITH EXAMPLES OF MODERN MAMMAL SKULLS ON DISPLAY AT THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM FOLLOWING THE PUBLICATION OF A RECENT SCIENTIFIC PAPER AND THE LOCAL DISCOVERY OF AN EARLY MAMMALIAN JAW BONE PROMPTING THE SCIENTIST'S TO POSIT A THEORY OF MAMMALS MIGRATING OUT FROM THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE. SYDNEY, DECEMBER 13, 2022. view more 

CREDIT: PHOTOGRAPH BY JAMES ALCOCK / AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM.

Australia, home to the most unusual animal species on the planet that defy imagination, can now lay claim to being the wellspring of modern mammal evolution. Published in the Australasian Journal of Palaeontology, Alcheringa, lead authors Professors Tim Flannery and Kris Helgen from the Australian Museum, along with Dr Thomas Rich from Museums Victoria and Professor Patricia Vickers-Rich from Monash University, and Dr E. Grace Veatch of the Smithsonian Institution, argue that the ancestors of Theria (placental and marsupial mammals) evolved in Gondwana 50 million years before migrating to Asia during the early Cretaceous Period around 126 million years ago.

Professor Flannery, Honorary Associate, Australian Museum, said that for almost 200 years it has been believed that the placental mammals, and the related marsupials, had originated in the northern hemisphere, as that is where the majority of mammal diversity is now found, and where the most abundant fossils occur.  

“However, our studies of the tribosphenic molars of therian mammals found in early and middle Jurassic sediments from Madagascar, South America and India (which are up to 180 million years old) predate the oldest such remains from the Northern Hemisphere by 50 million years,” Flannery said.

“Furthermore, our research shows that therian fossils from the Cretaceous of Australia, dating from around 126 to 110 million years ago, share characteristics with both these Jurassic Southern Hemisphere forms and the modern Northern Hemisphere Theria,” Flannery explained.

“This new research has completely revised and turned on its head our understanding of early mammal evolution. It's the most important piece of palaeontological research, from a global perspective that I've ever published, but it may take some time to find full acceptance among Northern Hemisphere researchers" Flannery added.

Chief Scientist of the Australian Museum, Professor Kris Helgen, said that during the Cretaceous period, Australia, New Zealand, South America, Antarctica, Africa, Madagascar, and the Indian Subcontinent were all joined in one southern supercontinent, Gondwana, and that early versions of many mammal lineages must have existed at this time, but evidence of their presence in the fossil record, their anatomical features, and their evolutionary relationships have been slow to reveal themselves, preventing in-depth assessments until now.

 “Our research indicates that Theria evolved in Gondwana, thriving and diversifying there for 50 million years before migrating to Asia during the early Cretaceous. Once they arrived in Asia they diversified rapidly, filling many ecological niches,” Helgen said.

Helgen said that teeth are a useful tool in identifying mammals, and that advances in imaging techniques have greatly helped in identifying where the fossils fit in to the wider evolutionary picture.

“A key component to the evolutionary success of Theria lies in their teeth. With their sophisticated molars, known as tropospheric molars, they were able to crush, puncture, and cut through food simultaneously.” Helgen explained.             

While the eureka moment happened in comparisons made earlier this year, the research to find key mammal fossils has been painstaking. Fellow palaeontologists, Dr Tom Rich and Professor Patricia Vickers-Rich searched Cretaceous age rocks for 23 years before turning up the first mammal fossil.

“Dating mammal lineages depends on both genetic analysis and the fossil record. We also date the rock around the fossil. With our latest research we have succeeded in filling the gaps to draw a detailed portrait of the early evolutionary history of Theria.” Dr Rich said.

 “These astonishing series of discoveries have completely changed our long-held theory of mammal evolution. Indeed, it turns our ideas of mammal evolution on its head,” Dr Rich added.       

 Australia is small in size compared to the other continents, yet it has more high-level mammal diversity than any other continent. More than 350 native mammals are known from Australia, half of which are marsupials such as the kangaroos, wombats, koalas, and Tasmanian devils. In Australia these coexist with the egg laying monotremes (echidna and platypus) which are the only non-therian mammals alive today, as well as the placental rodents and bats.                

Professor Helgen said human habitation and the rapid rate of climate change has had a huge impact on the country’s flora and fauna. Destruction of habitat, plus introduction of exotic species has led to many of Australia’s unique mammals becoming extinct. Sadly, in the recent 2022 State of the Environment report, Australia now holds the record for the extinction of the most mammals across the world.

“If we can change the planet so profoundly, it is in our capability to rectify and stem the loss. We now know more about how our mammals evolved, and now we have to ensure that what is left pulls through the current extinction crisis we humans have triggered,” Helgen said.

Mesozoic Southern Hemisphere tribosphenidan mammal dentaries (IMAGE)

TAYLOR & FRANCIS GROUP

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CREDIT

Credit: Australian Museum

JOURNAL

Alcheringa An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology

DOI

10.1080/03115518.2022.2132288 

ARTICLE TITLE

The Gondwanan origin of Tribosphenida (Mammalia)

What goes into a retailer’s decision to lower prices?

“Price frictions” are often a major deterrent

Peer-Reviewed Publication

INSTITUTE FOR OPERATIONS RESEARCH AND THE MANAGEMENT SCIENCES

Key Takeaways:

• Researchers discover three common reasons retailers may be reluctant to adjust prices.
• Sometimes retailers decide to discontinue a product from the shelf instead of lowering the price.

 

BALTIMORE, MD, December 15, 2022 – Holiday shoppers are finding that discounts among some of the items on their shopping lists are a little easier to find this year due to higher inventories at retailers and a slowing demand due to inflation and certain recessionary economic conditions. At the same time, consumers may notice that some retailers are slower to reduce prices to generate sales.

This is a result of “price frictions,” which make it more difficult and sometimes less cost-effective to lower prices. Price frictions are the focus of a new study that identifies three reasons retailers are reluctant to adjust new product prices.

The study, published in the current issue of the INFORMS journal Marketing Science, is titled “Price Frictions and the Success of New Products” and is authored by Diego Aparicio of IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain, and Duncan Simester of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“Price frictions are simple obstacles that make it more complicated for retailers to adjust prices. We found that retailers may be reluctant to adjust prices on a new product because there may be no price changes on related products, or state-level pricing laws require price stickers on each package, or the initial prices end in 99 cents. Our research has found that larger price frictions often lead a retailer to discontinue a poor-performing item before changing its price,” says Aparicio.

“A popular pricing tactic is 99-cent endings: $2.99, $9.99, etc. We see this everywhere! Surprisingly, 99-cent endings are a price friction that make it harder for new products to succeed. Intuitively, retailers like to retain 99-cent price endings. And if a new product has low initial sales, retailers prefer not to touch a 99-cent price instead of triggering a promotion, and as a result, the product is more likely to be discontinued in the short-term. This is a novel side effect of price endings that managers and scholars might want to input in their models,” adds Aparicio.

The researchers focused on two events in which retailers face initial demand uncertainty: new stores and new products. The researchers chose these events on the assumption that uncertainty increases the likelihood that retailers will make price adjustments after observing initial sales. This enabled the researchers to determine when and how retailers decided whether to lower prices or discontinue their sales of underperforming new products altogether.

 

Link to Study

 

About INFORMS and Marketing Science

Marketing Science is a premier peer-reviewed scholarly marketing journal focused on research using quantitative approaches to study all aspects of the interface between consumers and firms. It is published by INFORMS, the leading international association for the decision and data sciences. More information is available at www.informs.org or @informs.

 

# # #

About INFORMS

INFORMS advances and promotes the science and technology of decision-making to save lives, save money and solve problems. As the largest association for the decision and data sciences, INFORMS members support organizations and governments at all levels as they work to transform data into information, and information into insights that lead to more efficient, effective, equitable and impactful results. INFORMS’ 10,000+ members are comprised of a diverse and robust international community of practitioners, researchers, educators and students from a variety of fields.

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JOURNAL

Marketing Science

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

“Price Frictions and the Success of New Products”

Child labor contributes to the preservation of forest cover

Peer-Reviewed Publication

STOCKHOLM UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: STUDYING THE EXTENT OF CHILD LABOUR USE IN COFFEE BERRY PICKING AND GUARDING OF FOOD CROPS FROM FOREST-DWELLING MAMMALS IN THE REGION, THE RESEARCH TEAM HAS GAINED NEW INSIGHTS INTO THE EDUCATIONAL CONSEQUENCES OF FOREST COVER MAINTENANCE AND COFFEE PRODUCTION. view more 

CREDIT: TOLA GEMECHU ANGO

The work with forest preservation in southwestern Ethiopia, where smallholder coffee farmers play an important part, is essential for global sustainability. But there are also negative consequence to the synergy between smallholder cash crop production and biodiversity values. A new study conducted by researchers from Stockholm University, Norwegian University of Life Scinences, Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research and Addis Ababa Universty published in the International Journal of Educational Development, shows that child labour plays an important role in the system.

“By studying the extent of child labour use in coffee berry picking and guarding of food crops from forest-dwelling mammals in the region, we have gained new insights into the educational consequences of forest cover maintenance and coffee production,” says Tola Gemechu Ango, lead author of the study and researcher at the Deparment of Human Geography at Stockholm University.

A biodiversity hotspot

The forest in southwestern Ethiopia is a biodiversity hotspot of global importance. Here smallholder farmers produce coffee under the shade of trees. Coffee is the main source of cash income for several million people in Ethiopia, and also a primary export commodity for the country. Apart from the economic importance, the shade coffee production system has contributed to preserve forest cover and nurture habitats for forest-dwelling animals. Studying the connection between the coffee production and forest preservation, researchers have identified negative consequences. According to the study, the economic-environmental desireable synergy using smallholder shade coffee production to preserve the forest cover is burdended by an undesireable reliance on child labour that has negative effects on children’s schooling.

“This study increases our understanding of the compromise between educational, economic and environmental benefits of the forest conservation, and the need to address them to achieve transformation to sustainablity in rural settings,” says Tola Gemechu Ango. 

Absent from school

The research team studied boys and girls aged 5 to 17 in poor and wealthy households to see which groups of children participate more frequently in coffee berry picking and crop guarding, and were forced to be absent from school. The results of the study shows that 90 percent of the studied households, especially in the households living under poor conditions, used children in coffee berry picking and food crop guarding. Half of the children working while attending school were forced to frequently be absent from school to engage in these work tasks, suggesting that child labour and school absenteeism linked to coffee production and crop guarding are widespread problems in the region.

“Our results shows that there is a critical need to align sustainable development goals, in particular goals of biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation and poverty allevation with a respect for children’s right to education and personal development,” says Tola Gemechu Ango. 

Need to harmonize goals

National and interenational communities have actively promoted and supported forest conservation in the region to preserve biodiversity and to store carbon to mitigate climate change.

“In view of our results, concerted efforts that include suppport by national and international organisations to alleviate household poverty, to strenghten farmers’ coffee cooperatives and unions, and to develop and implement labour-saving technologies of coffee production might be a strategy to harmonize the various goals of sustainable development in a way that is better in line with the globally recognized human right of every child’s right to education,” says Tola Gemechu Ango. 

The team

Researchers included in the study are Tola Gemechu Ango and Lowe Börjeson, Stockholm University, Poul Wisborg, Norwegian University of Life Scinences, Feyera Senbeta, Addis Ababa University, and Habtamu Alem, Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research.

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DOI

10.1016/j.ijedudev.2022.102681 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Survey

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Coffee, child labour, and education: Examining a triple social–ecological trade-off in an Afromontane forest landscape

Contemporary Japanese politics and anxiety over governance

Ken’ichi Ikeda (Doshisha University)

Book Announcement

DOSHISHA UNIVERSITY

Chapters start by revealing the declining impacts of social capital on politics, the shrinking range of political parties from which to choose, and the mixing of Asian values with liberal democratic values. Then, by conceptualizing and empirically examining anxiety over governance, i.e., the perception of excessive risk for future governance, Ikeda explores the links of anxiety to Japanese political behavior. While the high regard for democratic politics lowers anxiety among the Japanese, the changes in Japanese political behavior/environment and culture contribute to a generally high level of anxiety, which also had a significant negative impact on the evaluation of countermeasures against COVID-19.

    Chapter 1 captures the changes in Japanese political behavior in the 21st century by contrasting social capital and political actors as determinants. A gradual decline in social capital and weakening of the ties with political actors occurred. By examining the elections from 1983 to 2019, especially the 2009 election that switched power from the long-dominant Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), Chapter 1 shows that the transition of power to the DPJ in the 2009 election was not supported by the social capital of civil society, but rather by perceptions regarding the political actors. The DPJ administration ended along with a decline in their reputation, whereas what is visible in the LDP administration after regaining power is a decline in the prospective expectations on the administration. 
   Chapter 2 examines the changes that have occurred in micro-level vote choice and macro-level meaningfulness since 1996 when voters became entitled to cast two votes in every national election in both Houses. Voting behavior is a choice for a set of alternatives, i.e., a set of political parties, but voters do not vote from the full range of the set as available choices; rather, they vote from a limited set of parties. On the other hand, the set of possible party choices defines the sense of meaningfulness that voting brings, i.e., the subjective empowerment on national politics. In fact, voters’ perceived set of party choices fluctuated in multiple LDP- and DPJ-centered clusters, and vote choices were basically distributed among possible choice sets of parties in each cluster. The LDP-centered clusters were consistently stable in determining vote choice, while the DPJ-centered clusters were less stable, and vote choice for the DPJ was rather heavily dependent on selective cues provided by its political actors. After the collapse of the DPJ administration, the perceived set of possible political parties to choose from has been greatly reduced to for or against LDP-centered clusters, along with the sense of empowerment.
    Chapter 3 examines whether the Japanese are unique in Asia and the world (which is often claimed) and whether such uniqueness is linked to the Japanese people’s social capital and their support for democracy, using extensive international comparative data from the Asian Barometer and World Values Surveys over a 20-year period. Although the Japanese are outliers in the Asian value system, which consists of the two dimensions of “vertical emphasis” and “harmony orientation,” in that the Japanese are weak in these characteristics, Japan is not uniquely positioned on the cultural map of the world. Nevertheless, Japanese people’s attitudes and actions are influenced by Asian values in terms of general trust and political participation, which are formed through social interactions with others, whereas this is not the case in terms of support for liberal democracy, which is enculturated by the post-war formal education. Overall, the Japanese may not necessarily be capable of making political and social decisions in a value-consistent manner, which may have a negative impact on the operation of the process of politics.
    Chapter 4 examines Japanese idiosyncrasy in their perception of social and national risk. In the World Values Survey, the degree of anxiety about future unemployment, education, and possible involvement in war, terrorism, and civil war perceived by the Japanese is considerably higher than objective indicators, demonstrating excessive risk perception, termed the “anxiety over governance index.” It was presumed that this excessiveness comes from Japanese people’s sense of worry over the future governance of their country. Analyses confirmed the excessive level of risk perception among the Japanese and revealed that this perception was reduced when the country was perceived to be democratically governed, i.e., the index was precisely related to perceptions of governance. Finally, anxiety over governance was more conceptually sophisticated as a pair conception, i.e., political distrust and anxiety over governance expressing diffuse negative evaluations of the past and the future, respectively.
    Chapter 5 explores the structure of Japanese anxiety over governance in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite Japan’s relatively good control during its first wave, an international comparative survey demonstrated that not only was there an overperception of risk, but the intensity of fear (risk perception) was positively correlated with a low evaluation of government handling ability, especially among the Japanese, which is consistent with Chapter 4. An Internet survey on the first general election of the Kishida administration in October 2021 revealed that Japanese excessive risk perception corresponded to the newly constructed direct measure of anxiety over governance, indicating that it was indeed anxiety about the future direction of Japanese politics and political dysfunction. Anxiety was reduced by perceptions of Japan’s degree of democracy, while its high level was explained by the cumulative negative effects of factors such as nonfunctioning social capital, reduced party choice, and inconsistent values.
    Chapter 6 examines a possible countervailing approach from citizens’ perspectives using an analysis of the 2021 election. While criticizing the government in the face of anxiety over governance, many Japanese are less involved in politics, even when confronted with the pandemic. However, the analyses indicated possible pathways for the Japanese to engage in politics, starting with protecting their everyday lives. The book closes by arguing that such grassroots movements are one way to reduce Japanese people’s anxiety over governance.

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[Book URL] http://www.routledge.com/9781032159331

[About the author] Dr. Ken’ichi Ikeda is a professor in the Department of Media Studies at Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan since April 2013, after 21 years of teaching at the University of Tokyo. He has been involved in many national/international survey research as the Principal Investigator of Japan, such as Japanese Election Study, World Values Survey, Asian Barometer, and Comparative Study on Electoral Systems(CSES).

Large-scale population study to yield precise insights into the genetic basis for diseases prevalent in Asian populations

Singapore's Minister for Health officially launches and participates in the SG100K longitudinal study

Business Announcement

NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: NTU LKCMEDICINE, IN COLLABORATION WITH OTHER HEALTHCARE INSTITUTIONS HERE, HAS EMBARKED ON A LANDMARK COMPREHENSIVE POPULATION HEALTH STUDY OF 100,000 SINGAPOREANS OVER A FEW DECADES TO IDENTIFY THE SOCIAL, ENVIRONMENTAL, LIFESTYLE, AND GENETIC FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH DISEASES PREVALENT IN SINGAPORE. view more 

CREDIT: NTU SINGAPORE

The Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine) at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), in collaboration with other healthcare institutions here, has embarked on a  landmark comprehensive population health study of 100,000 Singaporeans over a few decades to identify the social, environmental, lifestyle, and genetic factors associated with diseases prevalent in Singapore, such as diabetes, hypertension, and cancer.

 

Called SG100K, the multi-institutional effort comes on the back of Singapore’s rapidly ageing population, which is contributing to an increasing number of people living with long-term health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer, and to steadily rising healthcare costs.

 

With tremendous differences in health risks between Western and Asian populations, a study like SG100K could pave the way for the development of better tools through precision medicine to predict and prevent chronic diseases among Singaporeans and other Asian populations.

 

In support of this endeavour, Singapore’s Minister for Health Mr Ong Ye Kung officially launched the SG100K study today, and enrolled as an SG100K participant.

 

Mr Lim Chuan Poh, Chairman of the Governing Board of NTU’s LKCMedicine, said: “LKCMedicine is coordinating the national multi-institutional SG100K study that seeks to provide fresh insights into mechanisms influencing health. This is aligned with the School’s Population and Global Health flagship programme where we conduct large-scale population-based studies to guide disease-centric research. These findings will be harnessed to better deliver preventive care and health promotion in line with the goals of Healthier SG.”

 

Professor Joseph Sung, NTU’s Senior Vice President (Health and Life Sciences) and Dean of LKCMedicine said: “As a medical school that drives transformative research, LKCMedicine aims to tackle health challenges of national and global importance. In line with these efforts, the SG100K study will serve as a powerful resource in understanding why certain diseases are more common in different ethnic groups among the local population. Through this study and in collaboration with our partners and researchers, I am confident we will be able to build a more cost-effective healthcare system for Singapore.”

 

SG100K will draw on data from 50,000 participants across all ethnic groups enrolled in four existing cohort studies[1] by NTU LKCMedicine, the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, the Singapore Eye Research Institute and Singapore National Eye Centre, and the National Heart Centre Singapore. The remaining participants will be recruited progressively over the next two years.

 

Please see the Annex for quotes from the partner institutions.

 

NTU LKCMedicine’s Professor John Chambers, Lead Investigator of SG100K, said: “Establishing SG100K will be an important milestone for population health and precision medicine research in Singapore. SG100K will enable researchers from our partners organisations to better understand the primary risk factors for chronic conditions of high importance to Asian populations. This will lead to insights to better predict and prevent chronic disease, and to maintain quality of life among ageing Singaporeans.” 

 

Over the course of the study, SG100K participants will be monitored for their long-term health outcomes through a combination of approaches, including electronic medical records, disease registries and invitations for further follow-up.

 

Ensuring that all ethnic groups are well-represented in SG100K will enable population-based research in groups that have historically been under-represented, but that experience important differences in health outcomes. For instance, there is a high risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease seen in Singapore’s minority ethnic groups. 

 

Information that will be collected for the study include the measurement of waist-hip circumference, blood pressure, physical fitness, lung function, body composition, skeletal health, cardiovascular health, cognitive performance, as well as glucose and cholesterol levels.

 

Key biological samples such as blood, urine, and skin tapes[2] will also be collected.  SG100K will work with Precision Health Research, Singapore (PRECISE), the national entity established to co-ordinate Singapore’s National Precision Medicine strategy, to analyse blood samples to assess genomic and other relevant molecular variation in the population.

 

Prof Chambers, who is also the Chief Scientific Officer at PRECISE, said: “We will link these baseline research and genomic information to data on health outcomes over the long term, including through medical records. This will generate a precision medicine bioresource that enables advanced research to better understand the behavioural, environmental, genomic and other molecular factors that shape health and health outcomes in Singapore and other Asian populations.”

 

All Singaporeans or Permanent Residents of all ethnicities, aged 30 to 84 years old, including people with pre-existing conditions are welcome to be part of the study. Participants will be offered a detailed health report, which they can use for discussion with their doctors at no charge.

 

For more information on signing up as a participant and details of the health screening, please visit www.ntu.edu.sg/helios.

 

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Notes to Editor:

 

The SG100K study is supported by the National Research Foundation Singapore under its Open Fund-Large Collaborative Grant and administered by the Singapore Ministry of Health’s National Medical Research Council.

 

***END***

 

 

ANNEX

 

Quotes from Partner Institutions:

 

Assistant Professor Sim Xueling from the National University of Singapore, Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, said: “Understanding why diseases develop in some people, but not others, is a critical step to development of new approaches to prevent, delay, diagnose and treat diseases. As a contributing partner, together, we are committed to improve health and build more effective healthcare.” 

 

Professor Cheng Ching-Yu, Head, Ocular Epidemiology Research Group, Singapore Eye Research Institute and Lead, SEED said: “In the last decade, the Singapore Epidemiology of Eye Diseases (SEED) study has been established as a landmark cohort of multi-ethnic and longitudinal population-based eye diseases study. Now in addition to eye diseases, we are glad that our study can further contribute to our understanding on chronic diseases and the improvement of healthcare in Singapore via SG100K and PRECISE programmes.”

 

Associate Professor Yeo Khung Keong, Deputy Chief Executive Officer (Data Science and Innovation) and Senior Consultant, National Heart Centre Singapore, said: “NHCS is glad to be part of this national program. It is important that we understand how genetics and lifestyle interact over time to cause illness, especially heart disease. Working together with our partners, our research will be more impactful and we can help more Singaporeans.”

 

Professor Patrick Tan, Executive Director of PRECISE and A*STAR (Genome Institute of Singapore), said: “PRECISE is adding further value to the SG100K study through generation of whole-genome sequence data and other molecular profiles, for study participants. To generate and achieve high-quality genomic data, PRECISE will be working closely with Illumina, a leader in genomics technology, to sequence and analyse 100,000 Singaporean whole genomes to create Asia’s leading reference genome database.

 

“The dataset jointly created will be one of the most deeply phenotyped and well-characterised repositories of Asian population cohort data world-wide. This unique resource will allow researchers to identify key biomarkers and factors that may change throughout an individual’s life that represents transition from health to disease and enable us to better understand which people should receive which treatment.”

 

 

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[1] The four existing cohort studies are: the Health for Life in Singapore population health study by NTU LKCMedicine; the Singapore Population Health Study by the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health; the Singapore Epidemiology of Eye Diseases (SEED) by the Singapore Eye Research Institute and the Singapore National Eye Centre; and SingHEART, a key cardiovascular research programme at the National Heart Centre Singapore.

[2] In skin tape tests, a strip of adhesive tape is pressed onto the skin and subsequently removed to collect biomaterial from the skin surface.

New study examines links between parents’ income and sexual orientation of their children

Research examines suggestion that sex hormones in the foetus influence the sexual attraction people experience later in life

Peer-Reviewed Publication

SWANSEA UNIVERSITY

Attraction to same-sex partners is common in humans but the biological influences on homosexuality and bisexuality are not fully understood.

Now new research involving Swansea University is examining the suggestion that sex hormones in the foetus influence the sexual attraction people experience later in life. Extending earlier work that linked parental income to foetal sex hormones Professor John Manning, of the Applied Sports, Technology, Exercise and Medicine (A-STEM) research team, and colleagues have, for the first time, considered links between parental income and the sexual behaviour of their adult children.

According to the researchers the highest frequencies of same-sex attraction were found in the children of the lowest (25 per cent) income group, the lowest frequencies in the income group slightly higher than others, and elevated frequencies of same-sex attraction in the children of the top 25 per cent of the population.

The study, which has just been published in online journal Evolutionary Psychology, is a collaboration between Professor Manning, Bernhard Fink of the University of Vienna and the American evolutionary biologist and sociobiologist Robert Trivers.

Professor Manning said: “These novel findings suggest that high foetal oestrogen is a factor in both male and female same-sex attraction in children of low-income parents. Conversely, in male and female children of high-income parents, high foetal testosterone may be linked to same-sex attraction. “

The authors have further speculated that high foetal oestrogen is related to “femme” and “submissive” roles in female and male homosexuals respectively. Moreover, high prenatal testosterone may be linked to ‘butch’ and ‘assertive’ roles in female and male homosexuals respectively.”

The research follows on from a previous study involving Professor Manning published last year which found low-income mothers feminize their children in the womb by adjusting their hormones, whereas high-income mothers masculinize their children.

That study was based on the relationship between the length of a person’s index and ring fingers, known as the 2D:4D ratio. A long ring finger is a marker of higher levels of prenatal testosterone, and a long index finger is a marker of higher levels of prenatal oestrogen. Generally, in comparison to women, men have longer ring fingers, whereas in comparison to men, women have longer index fingers.

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JOURNAL

Evolutionary Psychology

DOI

10.1177/147470492211428 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Parental Income and the Sexual Behavior of Their Adult Children: A Trivers–Willard Perspective

Why aren’t all black bears black?

Researchers at HudsonAlpha, the University of Memphis, and the University of Pennsylvania have discovered what causes cinnamon color coats in some black bears

Peer-Reviewed Publication

HUDSONALPHA INSTITUTE FOR BIOTECHNOLOGY

Sometimes a name is just a name. Take bears, for example. In Yellowstone National Park, black bears outnumber their brownish-colored grizzly bear cousins, and in coastal areas of the Pacific Northwest, if someone says “brown bear,” they mean grizzly bear. But not all brown bears are grizzly bears.

American black bears (Ursus americanus), which one would logically assume are, well, black, actually come in a range of colors, including brown (also known as cinnamon), blond, or bluish-grey. Others have coats that are a mixture of several colors. So, how do you tell a cinnamon-colored Ursus americanus from its brown (grizzly) Ursus arctos cousin? Differences in body shape and size can be subtle. One hypothesis for the cinnamon color of Ursus americanus is that it mimics the appearance of a grizzly bear, helping with camouflage or defense.

Now, researchers at HudsonAlpha, the University of Memphis, and the University of Pennsylvania, have discovered what causes the cinnamon color, which sheds some light on this color confusion.

Gene variant responsible for cinnamon morph black bear

Emily Puckett, PhD, an Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Memphis, has devoted her career to learning more about the evolution and genetics of bears. With help from partners in state, provincial, and federal wildlife agencies, she collected hundreds of DNA and hair samples from North American bears. She teamed up with Greg Barsh, MD, PhD, Faculty Investigator at HudsonAlpha, and animal pigmentation expert to figure out why black bears aren’t always black.

In mammals, pigment is produced by skin cells called melanocytes. There are two types of melanin: eumelanin is black or brown, and pheomelanin is red or yellow. It is widely accepted that genetic variation in melanin biosynthesis gives rise to differences in hair, eye, and skin color. By studying photos of bears and chemically analyzing their corresponding hair samples, the team determined that cinnamon-colored black bears have reduced amounts of eumelanin, just like grizzly bears. 

Genome sequence analysis of nearly 200 bears uncovered different missense mutations in the gene Tyrosinase-related protein 1 (TYRP1): cinnamon-colored black bears have a mutation called TYRP1R153C, while most (but not all) grizzly bears have a mutation called TYRP1R114C. The TYRP1 gene produces an enzyme within melanocytes that helps produce eumelanin, so it makes sense that the cinnamon and grizzly bears have less eumelanin. Furthermore, functional studies carried out by Mickey Marks, PhD, Professor of Pathology at the University of Pennsylvania, and his lab, determined that the TYRP1R153C and TYRP1R114C mutations interfere with melanin synthesis and distribution.

“When we looked at other species, we were surprised to find the TYRP1R153C variant responsible for cinnamon U. americanus is identical to one previously described as a cause of oculocutaneous albinism (OCA3) in humans,” says Barsh. OCA3 is characterized by reddish skin and hair and frequent visual abnormalities and is most common in people of African or Puerto Rican ancestry. But according to Puckett, bears with TYRP1 mutations have normal skin and can see just fine.

When and where did the cinnamon morph arise?

The TYRP1R153C variant was primarily found in the southwest United States, at lower frequencies moving northward to Southeast Alaska and the Yukon Territory. TYRP1R153C was associated with the cinnamon color in black bears and the chocolate and light brown colors, meaning it accounts for almost all of the color diversity among U. americanus.

The researchers used their data to learn more about the TYRP1R153C mutation. One hypothesis is that it may have started in grizzly bears and then was transferred to black bears, but demographic analysis indicated that was not the case. Instead, the TYRP1R153C mutation arose spontaneously about 9,360 years ago in black bears living in the western United States, then spread as the bears moved across their current geographic range.

“Based on its wide range today, the TYRP1R153C mutation that arose in black bears over 9,000 years ago probably gave an advantage to the cinnamon bears,” says Puckett. “We used genetic modeling and simulations to predict the selective forces acting on the cinnamon morph. But our predictions ruled out the grizzly mimicry hypothesis as well as another hypothesis having to do with thermoregulation.”

As to why the coat color variant arose in the first place, the team presents a new hypothesis: crypsis. Crypsis refers to the ability of an animal to conceal itself and blend into the environment. Generally, crypsis is found in prey species and ambush predators who color match within their environments. Here, the researchers suggest crypsis as a broader adaptive mechanism for large-bodied species.

“These results illustrate how genetic variation in melanin biosynthesis can underlie iconic phenotypes and inform our understanding of color variation and recent evolution in large carnivores,” says Barsh.

By: Sarah Sharman, PhD, Science writer

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JOURNAL

Current Biology

ARTICLE TITLE

Genetic architecture and evolution of color variation in American black bears

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

16-Dec-2022

Climate change played key role in dinosaur success story

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM

 

IMAGE: DINOSAUR ANCESTORS ARE SHOWN IN THIS ARTIST'S CONCEPTION OF LIFE IN THE CHAÑARES FORMATION APPROXIMATELY 235 MILLION YEARS AGO view more 

CREDIT: VICTOR O. LESHYK, WWW.PALEOVISTA.COM

Climate change, rather than competition, played a key role in the ascendancy of dinosaurs through the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic periods.

According to new research, changes in global climate associated with the Triassic-Jurassic mass extinction – which wiped out many large terrestrial vertebrates such as the giant armadillo-like aetosaurs – actually benefitted the earliest dinosaurs.

In particular, sauropod-like dinosaurs, which became the giant herbivore species of the later Jurassic like Diplodocus and Brachiosaurus, were able to thrive and expand across new territories as the planet warmed up after the extinction event, 201 million years ago.

The new evidence is published in Current Biology, by an international team of palaeontologists led by the Universities of Birmingham and Bristol, in the UK, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), in Germany, and the University of São Paulo in Brazil.

The team compared computer models of prehistoric global climate conditions such as temperature and rainfall with data on the different locations of dinosaurs taken from sources such as the Paleobiology Database. They showed how the sauropods, and sauropod-like animals, with their long tails and necks and small heads, were the runaway success story of a turbulent period of evolution.

Dr Emma Dunne, now a lecturer in palaeontology at FAU, carried out the research while at the University of Birmingham. She said: “What we see in the data suggests that instead of dinosaurs being outcompeted by other large vertebrates, it was variations in climate conditions that were restricting their diversity. But once these conditions changed across the Triassic-Jurassic boundary, they were able to flourish.

“The results were somewhat surprising, because it turns out that sauropods were really fussy from the get-go: later in their evolution they continue to stay in warmer areas and avoid polar regions.”

Co-author on the paper, Professor Richard Butler, at the University of Birmingham, said: “Climate change appears to have been really important in driving the evolution of early dinosaurs. What we want to do next is use the same techniques to understand the role of climate in the next 120 million years of the dinosaur story”.

The research was funded by the Leverhulme Trust and the European Research Council.

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JOURNAL

Current Biology

DOI

10.1016/j.cub.2022.11.064 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Climatic controls on the ecological ascendancy of dinosaurs

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

16-Dec-2022