Monarch miscalculation: Has a scientific error about the butterflies persisted for more than 40 years?

A few years ago, Christopher Hamm was reading up on monarch butterflies when he noticed something peculiar. All of the scientific articles that mentioned the number of the insect’s chromosomes—30, it seemed—referenced a 2004 paper, which in turn cited a 1975 paper.

 But when Hamm, then a postdoc at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, did a genetic analysis of his own, he found that his monarchs only had 28 chromosomes, suggesting that an error has pervaded the literature for more than 40 years. Another twist, however, was just around the corner.

Hamm suspected a mistake when he read the original 1975 paper. The authors, biologists N. Nageswara Rao and A. S. Murty at Andhra University in Visakhapatnam, India, had studied what they claimed was an Indian monarch butterfly in their work. But there’s a problem: Monarchs are nearly exclusively a North American species. “It’s implied they just went outside their building and collected some butterflies,” Hamm says. “I immediately thought, ‘Monarch butterflies in India? Really?’”

Sure monarchs are master travelers, with the longest-known seasonal migration of any insect. And it’s not uncommon for a few to get blown off course to Australia, the Philippines, the United Kingdom, and a handful of other places from time to time. But ending up as far away as India seemed like a stretch. Hamm, now a data scientist at Monsanto in Woodland, California, also knew that taxonomists since Carl Linnaeus have struggled to distinguish species in Lepidoptera, the order of insects to which monarchs belong. For example, the monarch (Danaus plexippus) and a similar-looking butterfly known as the common tiger butterfly (D. genutia) were thought to be the same for more than a century until they were reclassified as separate species in 1954. And guess what: D. genutia lives in India.

the same or different butterfly?

christopher hamm study one butterfly  that called monarch butterflies but he discovered  one mistake, the insect chromosome number 30,  it seems  referred to the 1975 document.

 did his own genetic analysis, he found that his monarchs had only 28 chromosomes, suggesting that an error has permeated the literature for over 40 years.

 The authors, of the document of  1875 called N. Nageswara Rao and A. Murty, they studied Indian monarch butterfly but  Carl Linnaeus have struggled to distinguish species in Lepidoptera, the order of insects to which monarchs belong.

For example, the monarch  and a similar-looking butterfly known as the common tiger butterfly  were thought to have been the same for more than a century. And hamm discovered that are different types of monarch butterfly.  

Endemic Populations in colombia

Along the Prado River, at southeast of Colombia, there is a population of Podocnemis lewyana, an endemic and endangered river turtle. Relative abundance, population structure and conservation threats were determined using field data obtained in 2007 and 2009. Relative abundance was estimated by turtle catch per unit of time, which was used to compare between the two sampling years. Additionally, turtles per kilometer were counted in 2009 alone, to compare with other populations distributed in the north of the country. The population structure was determined by the frequency of individuals of several size classes and sex ratio of captured animals. Sexual dimorphism was examined in adult animals by morphometry. One hundred and ten turtles were captured in 2007 and 72 in 2009. The relative abundance of individuals observed was an averaged of 54.46 sightings/ km representing the most abundant population of the country so far. The population's structure was characterized by a higher frequency of individuals of 21-30 cm maximum straight carapace length SCL and absence of individuals of less than 10 cm SCL or greater than 40 cm SCL. Sex ratio was 2.52:1 for 2007 and 2.75:1 for 2009, being higher for females. The main identified threats to the population of P. lewyana at Prado River were (i) alterations of habitat, (ii) changes in the natural flow of the river, (iii) the use of inappropriate fishing arts and (iv) probable interruption of migrations. Prado River is hereby proposed as priority area for further research and conservation of Podocnemis lewyana in the upper Magdalena river basin.

my commentary:

we need help this turtles that called Podocnemis lewyana,

 live in the river prado. 

one group of peson go to the river in 2007  and  find 110 turtles and 2009 find 72.

A new study explores the role of antibiotic tolerance in antibiotic resistance

Controlled experimental evolution during antibiotic treatment can shed light on the processes leading to antibiotic resistance in bacteria. Recently, intermittent antibiotic exposures have been shown to lead rapidly to the evolution of tolerance, i.e., the ability to survive under treatment without developing resistance. However, whether tolerance delays or promotes the eventual emergence of resistance is unclear. Here, we used in vitro evolution experiments to explore this question. We found that in all cases tolerance preceded resistance. A mathematical population-genetics model showed how tolerance boosts the chances for resistance mutations to spread in the population. Thus, tolerance mutations pave the way for the rapid subsequent evolution of resistance. Preventing the evolution of tolerance may offer a new strategy for delaying the emergence of resistance.

my commentary:

the experimental evolution during antibiotic can  light on antibiotic resistance in bacteria.

Recently, intermittent antibiotic exposures have been shown to lead rapidly to the evolution of tolerance, the ability to survive under treatment without developing resistance.

 We found that in all cases tolerance preceded resistance. 

Preventing the evolution of tolerance may offer a new strategy for delaying the emergence of resistance.

 

a new population dynamics model improves pedictions for how species persist during climate change.

Climate change will affect the population dynamics of many species, yet the consequences for the long-term persistence of populations are poorly understood. A major reason for this is that density-dependent feedback effects caused by fluctuations in population size are considered independent of stochastic variation in the environment. We show that an interplay between winter temperature and population density can influence the persistence of a small passerine population under global warming. Although warmer winters favor an increased mean population size, density-dependent feedback can cause the local population to be less buffered against occasional poor environmental conditions (cold winters). This shows that it is essential to go beyond the population size and explore climate effects on the full dynamics to elaborate targeted management actions.

my commentary:

the climate change affect many species. We show that an interplay between winter temperature and population density can influence the persistence under global warming.

National Geographic

 Although winters  an increased population size, density-dependent,  can cause the local population to be less buffered against occasional environmental condit.

Wind turbines inspired by insect wings are 35% more efficient

Wind turbines produce 4% of the planet's energy, but only work well when

 the wind blows just. Now, drawing on the flexible wings of insects, scientists

have found a way to make wind turbine blades 35% more efficient in energy

production. If marketed, progress could make this green technology a more

 viable alternative to fossil fuels in the coming years.

Increasing the efficiency of a wind turbine is not simply a matter of turning the

rotors as fast as possible. In addition to becoming more prone to catastrophic

 failure, turbines also become less efficient at higher speeds because they look

 more like a wall than a rotor, preventing wind from flowing past rapidly rotating

 blades, says Asfaw Beyene , San Diego State University in California, who was

 not involved with the job.

The optimum amount of energy comes from the intermediate rates of rotation,

 says study author Vincent Cognet, a physicist at the University of Paris-Sorbonne.

 In order for them to produce energy more efficiently, the wind must hit their blades

 at the "tilt angle" just to apply the correct amount of torque to a generator.

my commentary:

this information of insect wings is very inmportant because

 this could be the energy of the future and probably you can make tecnology

 ecology and other way to fuels fossil in one years  also to increasing the turbines

or rotors more faster as possible  but to optimum old the energy is necessary the 

rotation and other pass to generate energy.

the conclusion for this topic is that the insect wings  get energy and probability can 

replace the oil but the problem is to get this energy because have very rules so to speak.

http://www.sciencemag.org

the salmon increase more than double in 2017

why?

Death of millions of fish in Chile because of an algal bloom causes 60% increase in a year.

The latest research shows that Chilean salmon prices are up by over 60 per cent year on year after an algal bloom hits the country's waters in February, releasing powerful toxins and starving the water of oxygen that killed fish.

terramagazine.terra.com

In addition, salmon production in Norway has been hit by extreme weather as well as the impact of sea lice in some areas.

The latest research shows that Chilean salmon prices are up by over 60 per cent year on year after an algal bloom hits the country's waters in February 

Market analyst Luana Clapis, of commodity analysts Mintec, told The Grocer: 'Algal blooms contain large numbers of marine algae which occur naturally in the ocean but usually in lower concentration.

http://www.aqua.cl

However, abnormal high ocean temperatures fuelled by El Nino have allowed the bloom to flourish.'

The bloom affected Chile's salmon region and millions of fish were killed with the country suffering losses equivalent to 123,500 tonnes of salmon to date. 

'Chilean salmon production is expected to decline 16per cent year on year in 2016, to 494,000 tonnes,' said Clapis.

www.dailymail.co.uk/ 

conceptual map:

features of population.