Charles Darwin-Mysterious Creature
A mysterious creature that baffled Darwin is related to a horse. Scientists screened lots of fossils of Macrauchenia patachonia, the species whose remains Darwin discovered 180 years ago in South Africa. This very unusual animal, who roamed the earth 10,000 years ago has a body of a rodent, legs of a camel and nose of an elephant. Darwin stated that this was ‘the strangest animal ever discovered’. The scientists that studied this used protein sequences that have discovered that this mammal is closely related to horses. “Fitting South American ungulates to the mammalian family tree has always been a major challenge for palaeontologists, because exhibiting features were these weird mosaic exhibiting features found in a huge variety of quite unrelated species living all over the place, this is what puzzled Darwin and his collaborator Richard Owen so much in the early 19th century. With all of these conflicting signals, they couldn’t say whether these ungulates were related to giant rodents, or elephants, or camels – or what have you.” said Ross MacPhee who is a curator in the American Museum of Natural History’s Department of Mammalogy. The chemical structure of protein is governed by DNA so scientists can compare it to different species to learn how closely they are related, this is how they found out that this animal was related to a horse. The horse is in the perissodactyls so this animal is the closest living relative of the perissodactyls (horses, rhinos and tapirs). We believe that this is truly the most interesting yet weird animal there was and ever will be.
We also interviewed some students that go here at Northfleet School for Girls. These are some of the questions we asked them:
Have you ever heard of the famous discoverist Charles Darwin?
Do you know of any of his discoveries?
Do you often read/hear about the recent news of the past?
How often do you listen to or watch the news?
Under 50% of the students knew who Charles Darwin was but the people that did said that they had heard about him in geography, science and history. Most people knew of his discoveries but in one of the groups we asked no one had heard of his discoveries. Out of the groups people sometimes read or hear about the knews of the past. Most of the people listen to or watch current news.
A mysterious creature that baffled Darwin is related to a horse. Scientists screened lots of fossils of Macrauchenia patachonia, the species whose remains Darwin discovered 180 years ago in South Africa. This very unusual animal, who roamed the earth 10,000 years ago has a body of a rodent, legs of a camel and nose of an elephant. Darwin stated that this was ‘the strangest animal ever discovered’. The scientists that studied this used protein sequences that have discovered that this mammal is closely related to horses. “Fitting South American ungulates to the mammalian family tree has always been a major challenge for palaeontologists, because exhibiting features were these weird mosaic exhibiting features found in a huge variety of quite unrelated species living all over the place, this is what puzzled Darwin and his collaborator Richard Owen so much in the early 19th century. With all of these conflicting signals, they couldn’t say whether these ungulates were related to giant rodents, or elephants, or camels – or what have you.” said Ross MacPhee who is a curator in the American Museum of Natural History’s Department of Mammalogy. The chemical structure of protein is governed by DNA so scientists can compare it to different species to learn how closely they are related, this is how they found out that this animal was related to a horse. The horse is in the perissodactyls so this animal is the closest living relative of the perissodactyls (horses, rhinos and tapirs). We believe that this is truly the most interesting yet weird animal there was and ever will be.
We also interviewed some students that go here at Northfleet School for Girls. These are some of the questions we asked them:
Have you ever heard of the famous discoverist Charles Darwin?
Do you know of any of his discoveries?
Do you often read/hear about the recent news of the past?
How often do you listen to or watch the news?
Under 50% of the students knew who Charles Darwin was but the people that did said that they had heard about him in geography, science and history. Most people knew of his discoveries but in one of the groups we asked no one had heard of his discoveries. Out of the groups people sometimes read or hear about the knews of the past. Most of the people listen to or watch current news.
Lawrence Square Sinkhole
A sinkhole opened in Lawrence Square, Northfleet, on Friday 27th February. No water or gas is available to those who decide to stay, but the Gravesham council helped rehome those who wanted to leave. A sinkhole is ‘a hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer.’ The sinkhole has fractured a sewer and cracked a wall. Council officials estimate that it could take weeks to repair damages to the area. The sinkhole has affected residents and shop owners. Some owners have decided to keep their shops open, but the rest have either closed down or moved across the square, where it is safer. When the area has been repaired the families will be given the option to return home or stay in the house they were relocated to.
A sinkhole opened in Lawrence Square, Northfleet, on Friday 27th February. No water or gas is available to those who decide to stay, but the Gravesham council helped rehome those who wanted to leave. A sinkhole is ‘a hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer.’ The sinkhole has fractured a sewer and cracked a wall. Council officials estimate that it could take weeks to repair damages to the area. The sinkhole has affected residents and shop owners. Some owners have decided to keep their shops open, but the rest have either closed down or moved across the square, where it is safer. When the area has been repaired the families will be given the option to return home or stay in the house they were relocated to.