This is the "Cistern of Theodosius" in Istanbul, built by Roman Emperor Theodosius II in 443 CE to serve the growing need for water in the capital of Constantinople, population: ~500,000
Its location was lost in the 18th century, and only recently rediscovered, restored, and opened in 2018.
This is the Basilica Cistern, built in the 6th century by Justinian I to provide constant water pressure to Constantinople's Great Palace and fountains district.
Some of the supporting columns have a unique feature.
Inverted medusa heads. It's unclear if these were repurposed stone taken from other locations (spoliation) or if they were a totem to guard against attacks by Gorgons by inverting the image.
Regardless, encountering them while exploring the cistern by torchlight would have been quite exciting?
There's a particular X-linked marker (DXZ4) in cat DNA that indicates a region of rapid evolution, and because it's X-linked and polymorphic, can be a useful marker to investigate the nature of interspecies hybrids in Felidae, which are common.
Ligers, and Caravals, and Blynxes, oh my!
For now, my dreams of a domesticated pygmy lion are beyond the reach of science, but with a small research grant (say, $5M), we can finally cross the inter-species barriers and craft something to be truly proud of:
The earliest cat (Family: Felidae) was likely Proailurus (Greek: 'before'+'cat'), dated to about 30 MYA in the late Oligocene.
Some species were a little larger than a house-cat (20 lbs/9 kg), while others were bobcat-sized (50 lbs, 23 kg). Fossils are found Spain to Siberia.
(📷: Mauricio Antón)
From this root branched 8 existing lineages of felids:
Panthers
Bay Cat
Caracal
Ocelot
Lynx
Puma
Leopard
and the mega-chonkers (aka felis).
Most of this branching is really quite recent, in the last 5 million years, making cats genetically more similar/less diverse than primates.
"Pool" as in a body of water is distinctive from the game of pool, which derives from French 'poule' which means "stakes" but also "hen".
What we think happened:
A game in the Middle Ages, 'jeu de la poule' ("chicken game") involved winning a chicken by hitting it with a small object.
Flamingos are one of a handful of birds adapted to filter feeding, but their feeding style is unique.
They put their heads "upside down", scoop water with their "upper" bill and force water out through hair-like structures called 'lamellae'.
(📷: John Cancalosi)
Stephen Jay Gould termed this inverted bill structure "The Flamingo's Smile" and challenges readers to think about the natural history that led to this inversion of structure-function.
They have a hinged UPPER beak structure, an inversion of the more common rigid upper/hinged lower beak of Neoaves.
The muscular tongue provides the pumping motion that removes water, retains blue-green algae and tiny crustaceans that give the flamingo its distinctive pink coloration (and me: nightmares)
It also made flamingo tongue a delicacy in Ancient Rome.
(📷: Geoffrey Einon)
What we're seeing in the flamingo is the end of a long process of slow adaptation, modifying existing structures, to make a filter feeder 'par excellence'.
The muscles and jaw structures have been selected from existing genetic variation to produce something unique in the natural world.
There are other fun flamingo adaptations:
1. They have an organ that excretes salt, so they can drink saltwater.
2. Adults secrete 'crop milk' to feed young. Because of the carotenoids in their diet, this red liquid looks like blood.
3. Same-sex couples raising chicks are common in large flocks.
I'm reading about the early Soviet space program & their use of dogs as human proxies.
Most were street dogs that were found rummaging through trash on base, and they ran away so frequently that half have names like "ZIB", the Russian acronym for “Substitute for Missing Dog, Bolik.”
"Smelaya ran off the day before the launch. The crew was worried that wolves that lived nearby would eat her. She returned a day later and the test flight resumed successfully."
*in best Yakov Smirnov voice*
"In Soviet Russia, launch to space is better than eaten by wolves (mostly)!"
During the Carboniferous Period (~300 MYA), insects grew to enormous sizes, like the dragonfly ancestor, Meganeura, which had a 2.5 ft wing span.
Butterflies the size of hawks would be fanciful but terrifying & you wouldn't dare wear floral perfumes.
(🔬: Stefan Diller, Science Photo Library)
Galapagos penguins colonized the equatorial islands from South America, following the cold waters of the Humboldt currents, with sub-surface upwellings in some area near 4 °C.
They show adaptation to warmer climates: they're the only penguin that can 'pant' like a dog, have reduced body fat.
The Galapagos islands have generally rocky beaches, so penguin nests are made in caves and ravines near shore, where the mating pair will lay eggs & raise young year-round.
They eat fish & crustaceans in the Humboldt upwellings & are food for sharks and whales. Their guano promotes new plant life.
The only species of penguins in the Northern Hemisphere (and just barely!) are the equatorial Galapagos penguins, which are the 2nd smallest penguin species on Earth.
They're just these little guys.
Here are the 1825-1833 empresario grants, corresponding to early settlements that became Austin, San Antonio, Houston, etc.
In the Hill Country, the German settlers rebuffed claims by American immigrants, so there wasn't the plantation sprawl of E Texas.
