Category: invertebrates

24Nov 2023 by Post

Fossil Friday: Cambrian Bryozoa Come and Go

bilaterians, body plans, Bryozoa, Cambrian animals, Cambrian Explosion, Carboniferous strata, chordates, Evolution, evolutionary biology, Fossil Friday, fossil record, great Ordovician biodiversification event, green algae, inkblots, invertebrates, lophophore, Lower Cambrian, Lower Ordovician, metazoans, microCT, Middle Pennsylvanian, molecular clock studies, moss animals, Nevada, Ohio, paleontology, phosphatic fossils, Pywackia baileyi, South China, tentacles

This is a field that often has more in common with the interpretation of inkblots in Rorschach tests than with hard science. Source

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21Jul 2022 by Post

How Octopuses Got So Smart? “Junk DNA”

biology, birds, brain, California octopus, clams, common octopus, genome, intelligence, Intelligent Design, invertebrates, jumping genes, Junk DNA, Long Interspersed Nuclear Elements, mammals, marine invertebrates, Neuroscience & Mind, octopuses, oysters, transposons, unguided evolution

Jumping genes used to be dismissed as junk DNA which in turn was held to be slam-dunk evidence for unguided evolutionary processes. Source

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07Apr 2022 by Post

Evolutionary Psychologist Argues that Worms Feel Pain. But How?

Aimen Mirza, alarm system, biology, David Barash, earthworms, endothermic life, Evolution, evolutionary psychology, exothermic life, intelligence, invertebrates, Nautilus, neuroscience, Neuroscience & Mind, pain, panpsychism, Richard Dawkins, sentience, slaughter, Through a Glass Brightly, University of Washington, Wormmy

Wait. Barash’s hypothesis overlooks the fact that suffering is more than an alarm system. An alarm could be going off in an empty building. Source

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03Mar 2022 by Post

The Remarkable Things We’re Learning About Bird Intelligence

African grey parrot, Alex (parrot), apes, birds, chimpanzees, cockatoo, cutlery, Goffin’s cockatoo, golf, intelligence, Intelligent Design, invertebrates, knife, mammals, Neuroscience & Mind, New Caledonian crows, New Zealand, octopus, Smithsonian Magazine, spoon, token, University of Birmingham, utensils, vertebrates, walnut

These findings are only among birds that have actually been studied; most birds have not been studied for intelligence. Source

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13Aug 2020 by Post

For Fire, Nature Obliges Us with Rapid Reflexes

balancing, cornea, field of vision, fire, Fire-Maker series, Homo sapiens, Intelligent Design, invertebrates, mammals, muscles, muscular activity, nerve conduction, nervous system, reflexes, spastic paraplegia, vestibular-ocular reflex, walking

One area where very fast nerve conduction is vital is vision, more specifically, in keeping the eyes fixed on some object in the field of vision while in motion. Source

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