Monday, November 6, 2017

Even Mammoth Males Took More Risk!

     You may know why/how I came up with this week's Partial Ellipsis of the Sun topic.





      "Male mammoths really had to watch their steps. More than two-thirds of woolly mammoth specimens recovered from several types of natural traps in Siberia came from males, researchers report November 2, 2017, in Current Biology."





      "Paleogenomicist Patrícia Pečnerová of the Swedish Museum of Natural History in Stockholm and her colleagues examined genomic data recovered from 98 mammoth bone, tooth, tusk and hair shaft specimens and found that 69 percent of their owners were male." 





      "Sex biases in fossil preservation are rare, and the sexes were almost certainly balanced at birth. So the researchers considered whether social and behavioral patterns might have meant that male mammoths more often died in such a way that their remains were buried and preserved, such as becoming trapped in a bog or falling through thin ice."





     "In modern elephants, herds of females and young live together, led by an experienced female, whereas males are more likely to live in bachelor groups or alone. That could result in more risk-taking behavior for those males." 




       "Woolly mammoths, the distant cousins of modern elephants, may have had the same social structures, the researchers suggest."




     "The study, the authors say, highlights how fossil genomic data can help illuminate the past social structures and behavior of extinct animals — and how existing fossils may not fully represent the original population. . ."





      And that risky behavior in males, be they mammoths or human beings, happens. . .






Woolly, Boolly, Woolly, Boolly,

Steph

41 comments:

  1. I imagine that sex biases in fossil preservation are not so rare when excavating ancient battleground cemeteries, for similar reasons.

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    1. Is there a mammalian species where the males aren't sent away, even in communal species - apes, wolves, etc? I think the dudes get sent off to join a new group.... Unverified, not researched other than vague memories of Nature programs.

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    2. eco, I've not found such a species. This research is not surprising; I liked how it fit with our "males doing dangerous stuff theme" from our last post's comments.

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    3. For years I've been using "testosterone" as my excuse for the many stupid things I've done.

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    4. I've done many stupid things, too, eco. I chalk them up to momentary lapses in intelligence.

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    5. Many (most?) males don't have the intelligence to lapse.

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    6. Many males, indeed, especially 45, who said he was "surprised there were so many countries" to the Japanese prime minister, Shinzō Abe. "Making ignorance ok since January 20, 2017." (and before, of course)

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    7. Lapses! That reminds me! I sometimes have a lap and sometimes I don't. But, as far as I can tell, behind my beard, I still only have one chin. (You may know what I'm talking about.)

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  2. A bit of a hit or miss theory on dino death; of course we all know the real truth.

    "The Republicans have gone from Abraham Lincoln, to Sarah Palin, to Donald Trump. No wonder they don't believe in evolution!" Credit to Andy Borowitz at The New Yorker.

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    1. That Teleocrater is quite a find!

      Thanks for the link and the cartoon, eco.

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    2. I had skipped over that video, thanks for pointing it out.

      At first glance the Teleocrater looks like a monitor lizard or komodo dragon on steroids. But I suspect there's not a direct evolutionary linkage, more that certain forms and shapes have evolutionary advantages.

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  3. An interesting (to me, anyway) observation about idioms I have heard in conversations.
    When one wants to describe a male "golden-ager" as fusty they often say, "He's a fossil."
    You seldom hear "She's a fossil."

    LegoWhoIsAFacile...Philologist

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  4. I agree, Lego. And it usually comes with the descriptor "crusty old fossil" which seems a bit oxymoronic. Aren't all fossils old?

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  5. And speaking of Jeopardy!, did you watch Austin Rogers on TOC last night?

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    1. Not yet. Hoping to see him and Buzzy Cohen square off.

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    2. Austin, Alan, and Buzzy perhaps. . .

      Next year: Jeopardy Jan!

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  6. If you want to know the difference between an alligator and a crocodile, pay attention to whether the animal says she will see you later or in awhile. . .

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    1. You know. Are you playing reptilians' advocate, eco?

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    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    3. Could not a crocodile say "later 'gator" to her smaller and somewhat less hostile pal?

      Jan's option isn't bad, but what about gharials? Why don't they get parting phrases? Coming up with those phrases could be your chance at making history!

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    4. Ok, eco, here goes: "Farewell, gharial!" (Fareial, gharial?).

      I liked Caiman, jan.

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  7. So this Love letter to VerMONT cracked me up.

    eco and west coasters, wait to watch.

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    1. It's hard to believe that NONE of them got the Final Jeopardy right! After I saw the Clue of the Day this morning (and posted it on Blaine's), I thought it was pretty easy, so I tried it out on my wife. I said, "The category is State Capitals, and the clue is..", and, I swear to God, she interrupted, "Montpelier!" She scares me sometimes.

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    2. I was very surprised, also. Austin could have had it all. So glad they all seemed to have such fun and did not take it too seriously.

      And, yes, jan, your wife is scary (in a good way.)

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    3. Especially since she did the same thing two weeks ago with "Coppola".

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    4. Sounds like you didn't even get the gist of the question out this time!

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  8. I'm glad to see that our first interstellar visitor finally has a name. I haven't investigated hot to properly pronounce it, but I'm going with "Yo Mama". As in, "ʻOumuamua's so fat, when she sits around the solar system, she sits AROUND the solar system."

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    1. ^^^how to properly pronounce^^^

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    2. More on Oumuamua.

      (Remember, "Yo Mama", not to be confused with Yo-Yo Ma.)

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    3. Insightful, as always.

      Now, where's Yo-eco-eco?

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    4. I'm here, thanks. Sifting through the ashes earlier in the week, and busy with projects since.

      Stupid question on Oumuamua: the Wikipedia article said it would pass Neptune in 2022 (30 AU from the sun) but would not leave the solar system for 20,000 years. Shouldn't that be 20 years? The solar system is 120 AU, 4x the distance to Neptune. Even an architect can do that math...

      Somewhere I have a concert program with Yo Yo Ma's Western and Chinese signatures - I wonder if that's worth anything?

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    5. eco, glad to have you back and glad it was not 20,000 years!

      Your math seems reasonable to me.

      The signatures are certainly worth something, if only the memory of a lovely concert.

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    6. It was a lovely concert, autumn of 1983, Mr. Ma was already a big name. Pretty good staying power.

      But it's 2017 and everything has to be monetized!

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    7. Well, yes, I do like impressionism . . .;-)

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  9. New post on "Where All the Women Are Strong: Bone Strength Comparison" is now up.

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