(Press-News.org) Researchers have discovered the first three-dimensionally preserved pterosaur eggs in China. The eggs were found among dozens, if not hundreds, of pterosaur fossils, representing a new genus and species (Hamipterus tianshanensis). The discovery, described in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on June 5, reveals that the pterosaurs—flying reptiles with wingspans ranging from 25 cm to 12 m—lived together in gregarious colonies.
Xiaolin Wang of the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology says it was most exciting to find many male and female pterosaurs and their eggs preserved together. "Five eggs are three-dimensionally preserved, and some are really complete," he says.
The fossil record of the pterosaurs has generally been poor, with little information about their populations, the researchers say. Prior to this latest find, only four isolated and flattened pterosaur eggs were known to science.
The resting place of the pterosaurs now described was first uncovered in 2005 in the Turpan-Hami Basin, south of the Tian Shan Mountains in Xinjiang, northwestern China. The fossil-rich area may harbor thousands of bones, including three-dimensional male and female skulls and the first three-dimensional eggs. Wang says that sediments in the area suggest that the pterosaurs died in a large storm about 120 million years ago in the Early Cretaceous period.
The researchers examined the largely intact pterosaur egg specimens to find that they were pliable, with a thin, calcareous eggshell outside and a soft, thick membrane inside, similar to the eggs of some modern-day snakes. The researchers' observations of 40 male and female individuals suggest differences between the sexes in the size, shape, and robustness of their head crests.
The combination of many pterosaurs and eggs strongly indicates the presence of a nesting site nearby and indicates that this species developed gregarious behavior, the researchers say. Hamipterus most likely buried their eggs in sand along the shore of an ancient lake to prevent them from drying out. While the new fossils shed light on the reproductive strategy, development, and behavior of pterosaurs, there is still plenty left to learn about them.
"Sites like the one reported here provide further evidence regarding the behavior and biology of this amazing group of flying reptiles that has no parallel in modern time," the researchers write.
INFORMATION:
Current Biology, Wang et al.: "Sexually dimorphic tridimensionally preserved pterosaurs and their eggs from China."
First 3-D pterosaur eggs found with their parents
2014-06-05
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
McLean Hospital researchers see promise in transplanted fetal stem cells for Parkinson's
2014-06-05
BELMONT, MA -- Researchers at Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital have found that fetal dopamine cells transplanted into the brains of patients with Parkinson's disease were able to remain healthy and functional for up to 14 years, a finding that could lead to new and better therapies for the illness.
The discovery, reported in the June 5, 2014 issue of the journal Cell Reports, could pave the way for researchers to begin transplanting dopamine neurons taken from stem cells grown in laboratories, a way to get treatments to many more patients in an easier fashion.
"We ...
Fasting triggers stem cell regeneration of damaged, old immune system
2014-06-05
In the first evidence of a natural intervention triggering stem cell-based regeneration of an organ or system, a study in the June 5 issue of the Cell Press journal Cell Stem Cell shows that cycles of prolonged fasting not only protect against immune system damage — a major side effect of chemotherapy — but also induce immune system regeneration, shifting stem cells from a dormant state to a state of self-renewal.
In both mice and a Phase 1 human clinical trial, long periods of not eating significantly lowered white blood cell counts. In mice, fasting cycles then "flipped ...
Immune system molecules may promote weight loss, UCSF study finds
2014-06-05
The calorie-burning triggered by cold temperatures can be achieved biochemically – without the chill – raising hopes for a weight-loss strategy focused on the immune system rather than the brain, according to a new study by UC San Francisco researchers.
The team determined that two signaling molecules secreted by cells of the immune system trigger the conversion of fat-storing white fat cells to fat-burning beige fat cells. Ajay Chawla, MD, PhD, an associate professor of medicine at the UCSF Cardiovascular Research Institute, led the study, published online June 5, 2014 ...
Scientists generate long-sought molecular map of critical genetic machinery
2014-06-05
LA JOLLA, CA—June 5, 2014—A team led by researchers at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has used advanced electron microscopy techniques to determine the first accurate structural map of Mediator, one of the largest and most complex "molecular machines" in cells.
Mediator is crucial for the regulation of most genes' activity and works in the cells of all plants and animals. The mapping of its structure—which includes more than two dozen unique protein subunits—represents a significant advance in basic cell biology and should shed light on medical conditions involving ...
Diabetes care depends on how your doctor is paid
2014-06-05
TORONTO, June 5, 2014 – From 2006 to 2008, nearly 75 per cent of Ontarians with diabetes did not receive all of the tests recommended to properly monitor their disease. How their doctor was paid was one of the factors determining the care they received, according to a study by researchers at St. Michael's Hospital and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES).
The study, published today in the Canadian Journal of Diabetes, found that patients who were not actively enrolled with a family doctor were least likely to receive optimum diabetes care. The researchers ...
New method reveals single protein interaction key to embryonic stem cell differentiation
2014-06-05
Proteins are responsible for the vast majority of the cellular functions that shape life, but like guests at a crowded dinner party, they interact transiently and in complex networks, making it difficult to determine which specific interactions are most important.
Now, researchers from the University of Chicago have pioneered a new technique to simplify the study of protein networks and identify the importance of individual protein interactions. By designing synthetic proteins that can only interact with a pre-determined partner, and introducing them into cells, the team ...
Research helps clarify how obesity leads to type 2 diabetes, cancer
2014-06-05
New findings about the biological links between obesity, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes may also shed light on the connection between obesity and cancer, says a scientist at The University of Texas at Dallas.
In a study published online June 5 in the journal Cell, UT Dallas' Dr. Jung-whan (Jay) Kim and colleagues at the University of California, San Diego found that a protein called HIF-1 alpha plays a key role in the development of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes in obese mice.
The researchers genetically engineered mice to lack the HIF-1 alpha protein ...
New research explains how we use the GPS inside our brain to navigate
2014-06-05
The way we navigate from A to B is controlled by two brain regions which track the distance to our destination, according to new research funded by the Wellcome Trust and published in Current Biology.
The study found that at the beginning of a journey, one region of the brain calculates the straight-line to the destination ('the distance as a crow flies'), but during travel a different area of the brain computes the precise distance along the path to get there.
The findings pinpoint the precise brain regions used and in doing so change how scientists believed we use ...
Our own treacherous immune genes can cause cancer after viral infection
2014-06-05
HPV (human papillomavirus) infection is widely known to induce cancer. Many of the mutations that cause this virally-induced cancer are caused by a family of genes that normally combats viral infections, finds new UCL (University College London) research.
This raises the possibility of developing drugs to regulate the activity of these genes to prevent HPV-associated cancers from developing and reduce the ability of existing cancers to evolve resistance to treatments.
The research, published in Cell Reports, shows for the first time that genes from the 'APOBEC' family, ...
Cellular traffic control system mapped for the first time
2014-06-05
Cells must transport nutrients and messenger cargos through its membrane and transport them within the cell at the correct time and place. This procedure is complex and is regulated with the help of specific genes. If disturbances in the transport mechanism arise, severe diseases, such as diabetes, cancer and diverse neurological pathologies, are the consequence. The discovery of the molecular principles of cellular transport was honored with the Nobel Prize of physiology and medicine in 2013. While knowing the intracellular roads and the functioning of the cars that use ...