Efficient fish not faint-hearted
Article Abstract:
The apparently simple and inefficient blood circulation systems of some air-breathing fishes could have a valid purpose which could be of interest to those involved in the treatment of heart disease. Researcher Colleen Farmer proposes that the purpose of the systems which send oxygenated blood to the heart rather than the body, and the reptilian feature of partial ventricle division, is to provide oxygenated blood to the heart muscle. The research suggests the possibility of heart surgeons implanting a device, similar to a fish lung, which would supply a highly oxygenated solution to the coronary arteries.
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 1997
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Fish with fingers?
Article Abstract:
Researchers have discovered a pectoral fin of a lobe-finned fish in north central Pennsylvania that is extremely similar to tetrapod limbs. The fin has an array of eight distally facing and jointed preaxial radials that appear to be similar in number and configuration to the digits of early tetrapods. The radials are flattened and encased by stiff unjointed dermal fin rays. It appears that the digit-like structures were not the main load-bearing elements of the distal portion of the rhizodont appendage.
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 1998
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Lickety split
Article Abstract:
Virginia Naples has reported on research into the eating habits of the giant anteater, Myrmecophaga tridactyla. According to anatomical evidence based on muscle activity, Naples suggests that the giant anteater, having no digastric muscle and depressing its lower jaw just a few degrees during feeding, rotates the two parts of the lower jaw around their axes to open its mouth. The animal has an elongated tubular snout, a long, narrow sticky tongue and no teeth.
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 1999
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